Artificial Destiny
by SukiYumi
Summary: 3 of Kagome's best friends find themselves getting sucked into Kagome's new life. In a fight against Naraku, the Inu gang extras, get blown into an alternet dimension. InuKag MirSan KougaOC HitenOC OCOC
1. Memories

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Kikyo would be known as the Kikyot (Kikyo + Pot) and there would be some serious Kikyot bashing. And seeing as how she hasn't died many painful deaths, it's safe to assume that, no, I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Leiko: Okay pplz, this is a Kag/Inu, Mir/San, Hiten/OC (Kin), Kouga/OC (Kashaku) and OC/OC (Mizuna)  
  
Kikyo: Why does my stupid incarnate get Inu-chan?  
  
Mizuna: You obviously didn't read the disclaimer. But to put it in simple terms that you would understand, Inu + Kag= Happy, Kikyo+ Inu= me losing my lunch.  
  
Kikyo: Inu+Kikyo no end bad!!! Wait, I mean Inu and me getting together wouldn't be a bad thing! Why do you like my stupid incarnate better?  
  
Kin: Because she isn't a psychopathic b****.  
  
Kikyo: Inu-Chan! They're making fun of us being together!  
  
Inuyasha: You leave Kikyo alone!!!  
  
*All stare at Inuyasha like he is crazy*  
  
Leiko: Why?  
  
Inuyasha: Because I love her!  
  
Mizuna: You poor delusional Hanyou...  
  
Inuyasha: I'm NOT delusional!!!  
  
Mizuna: You just said you loved Kikyo...  
  
Inuyasha: Dear Kami, I AM delusional!!!  
  
Leiko: It's okay... Here's the script, it should make you less confused.  
  
Inuyasha: Oh, thanks.  
  
Kagome: He should love Kikyo; she gave up her life for him...  
  
Mizuna: No she didn't, Naraku just killed her, it had nothing to do with saving Inuyasha.  
  
Kagome: HEY! You're right! Kikyo DOES suck!!!  
  
Leiko: I knew she'd get it!!!  
  
Inuyasha: Okay, I get it now.  
  
Kagome: I have a problem with the script, why does Mizuna get to kill that stupid pot!?! Why can't I kill her!?!  
  
Leiko: You still have to act like you think Kikyot's better than you.  
  
Kikyo: WHAT D'YA MEAN 'ACT'!?!?!?! I AM BETTER THAN HER!!!!!  
  
Leiko: While Kikyot's busy having her own little delusions, I'm going to start the fic!!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Artificial Destiny Prologue: Memories  
  
"HEY! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?!" Kin Rakatujii yelled at the bully. The hulking 6 year old turned around.  
  
"Get lost shrimp." The bully told her turning back to beating up the raven- haired girl for her lunch money.  
  
"HEY! I'm talkin' here!!!" Kin yelled getting mad. She balled her 4-year- old fists up and knocked the bully off the younger girl. The 6 year old fell onto the concrete and scraped his knees. He began crying and ran to where his mother was.  
  
"That's right! You'd better run!!!" She yelled. Then she turned back to the little three year old he had been hurting.  
  
"Hi, I'm Kin Rakatujii." She said holding out her hand to the younger girl. The little raven-haired girl looked up at the older golden haired girl.  
  
"Hi, I'm Kagome." The 3 year old said in a cute baby voice. She looked around with her blue eyes, searching for her grandfather. When she couldn't find him she began crying.  
  
"H-hey, what're ya' doin'?" The golden-eyed girl said starting to get nervous. "Daddy!" She called searching for her father, finding him, she ran over dragging the still crying Kagome with her. "Daddy, I broked her!!!" The 4 year old cried panicking.  
  
"It's okay Kin, she's just crying," Her father told her before turning to the crying child, "Hey there, what's wrong?" He asked her kindly.  
  
"I-I CAN'T FIND M-MY GRANDPA!!!" She wailed.  
  
"Hey now, it'll be okay, come on, I'll get you an ice-cream and then we can go look for him, sound good?" Ronin, Kin's father questioned the little Kagome.  
  
Kagome sniffed and stopped crying. Looking up at the tall man she said "Onwy if I get chocolit."  
  
"Of course!" The smiling man said scooping both his daughter, and the other little girl up. "So, do you have a name little one?"  
  
"Kagome Higurashi." The 3 year old told him importantly.  
  
"Well miss Higurashi, here is your ice-cream." Ronin said handing the chocolate cone to the little girl, "And here is yours Kin." He said handing his daughter her chocolate cone.  
  
While the girls ate their ice cream, Ronin looked around for an old man. Spotting an old man looking franticly around the park, he strode over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me sir, is this your granddaughter?" He asked indicating Kagome.  
  
The old man whirled around and snatched the girl out of Ronin's grasp. "You can't fool me evil demon!!!" The old man started ranting about Ronin being a demon and putting purifying seals on him. Ronin stepped back from the man giving him an odd look.  
  
"Father! Leave that man alone!" A woman said restraining her father. "I'm terribly sorry sir, my father is a little fanatical, please don't take offence."  
  
"Of course not, I was just returning your daughter, it seems my daughter saved her from a bully." Ronin replied good-naturedly.  
  
As it turned out, Kin and Kagome both went to the same school, along with Kin's other best friend, a bouncy redheaded yellow-eyed girl, named Kashaku. The three of them became fast friends; they knew every secret about each other...  
  
10 years later...  
  
"Kin! Kashaku!" A thirteen-year-old Kagome called to her two best friends.  
  
"Hey Kag, what's up?" A fourteen-year-old Kin questioned her excited friend.  
  
"We have a new student coming today!" She told them.  
  
"Yeah, she's supposed to be really smart." Kashaku added, "Maybe she'll want to be our friend!"  
  
"Don't get your hopes up Kashaku, she's probably just some stuck up snob who thinks she's better than everyone else." Kin said.  
  
"Really? I heard she can be pretty nice, when she wants to be." Came a new voice from behind them.  
  
The three girls turned around quickly. Kin blushed crimson. There standing in front of them was a blue haired, blue-eyed girl. She was the new girl.  
  
"Hi, I'm Mizuna Arishima, and no, I'm not that stuck up." She told them. A smile was on her lips, and they could tell that she wasn't angered by Kin's earlier comment.  
  
Kagome smiled while introducing herself and her friends. She could tell that Mizuna was going to be a great addition to their little group.  
  
(Okay, I know that Kagome is only 14 in the show, but I always thought that that was a little young, and this is MY fic, so if you have a problem with it than poof you!!!)  
  
3 years later (1 month before Kagome falls into the well)  
  
"Bye you guys..." A tearful Kagome said as she wished her three best friends goodbye.  
  
"It's okay Kagome-Chan, we'll be back in 2-3 months tops..." Comforted Kin.  
  
"I wish you had a special talent so that you could come with us..." Said an even more tearful Kashaku.  
  
"Well, we have to go, or we're going to miss the plane..." Mizuna said, fighting off her tears.  
  
After a group hug, and an exchange of friendship bracelets, Mizuna, Kin and Kashaku boarded the plane. The three of them had done so well in their individual classes that they were being sent to one of the leading schools in Japan on a trial bases for a few months. Kashaku was allowed in on a scholarship of dance, Kin got in for her skills in all football, soccer, basketball... Well, you get the picture. And Mizuna was there because she got all top grades at their school.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Leiko: I know that was short, but *Suddenly ducks under table* PLEASE don't kill me!!!  
  
Readers: We'll consider it... IF the next chapter is extra long.  
  
Hiten: Who are you? And can I kill you?  
  
Readers: Eep!!!  
  
Mizuna: Down boy.  
  
Hiten: Are you referring to ME?  
  
Kin: No, she's talking to her imaginary friend...  
  
Hiten: As long as she wasn't talking to me.  
  
Kashaku: But, I thought she was...  
  
Sesshoumaru: You don't take sarcasm very well do you, Hiten?  
  
Inuyasha: Yes! My brother is FINALLY bullying someone else!!!  
  
Kagome: Inuyasha are you okay?  
  
Kashaku: Review please!  
  
Readers: Why?  
  
Hiten: Can I kill them if they don't review?  
  
*They think for a second*  
  
Mizuna: Sure, why not.  
  
Hiten: YES! 


	2. Demonic Discoveries

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, You know what? Poof this. If you actually think that I own Inuyasha, than you are just beyond anyone's help and are in serious need of being put in an insane asylum, and I pray that you won't have to be put in the same ward as Kikyot.  
  
Leiko: Wasn't that a cheery disclaimer?  
  
Kikyo: No it wasn't...  
  
Kin: You're stupid, did you know that?  
  
Kikyo: AM NOT!!!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Yes you are.  
  
Kikyo: NO I'M NOT!!!  
  
Mizuna: You shouldn't fight a losing battle...  
  
Kikyo: BUT I'M NOT STUPID!!!  
  
Kagome: Let's take a vote, who here thinks Kikyo is stupid?  
  
*Everyone but Kikyot raises their hands*  
  
Kagome: It looks unanimous to me!  
  
Kikyo: NO IT'S NOT, I DIDN'T VOTE FOR IT!!!  
  
Kashaku: You don't count.  
  
Kagome: But if it'll make you happy: everyone who COUNTS voted for you being stupid.  
  
Kikyo: Thank y- HEY wait a minute!!!  
  
Kagome: What? Are you still not satisfied!?!  
  
*Kagome pretends to sob*  
  
Kagome: All I do is give, give, give, and what do I get in return!?! Nothing but CRITISISM!!!  
  
Hiten: Wow, you're even more selfish than I am...  
  
Kikyo: NO I'M NOT!!!  
  
Hiten: You know, D' Nile ain't just a river in Egypt...  
  
Kashaku: I don't get it...  
  
Kouga: I get it!!!  
  
Kashaku: NO FAIR, WHY DOES HE GET IT, AND I DON'T!!!  
  
*Everyone sweatdrops*  
  
Leiko: I think I'm just gonna start the fic now...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Calming Forces  
  
Chapter 1: The Return  
  
"Where is she!?!" Kin ranted as they waited for Kagome.  
  
"I'm sure she has a good reason for being three hours late..." Mizuna covered for their friend.  
  
"She'd better!!!" Kin had been pacing back and forth for the past two hours.  
  
"Kin, can you stop pacing, you're making me dizzy..." Kashaku said as the world around her began to spin.  
  
"Kashaku, I think the reason you're dizzy, is because you've been spinning around for ten minutes now..." Mizuna said, sweatdroping.  
  
"Oh, do you really think that could be it?" Kashaku asked confused.  
  
Mizuna and Kin stared at Kashaku for a minute before snapping out of it. Finally giving up on Kagome, the three girls hailed a taxicab, and left for Kagome's home to see if she was okay.  
  
When they reached Kagome's house, they paid the driver and walked up to the front door. Mizuna raise her hand to knock on the door, when a voice from inside stopped her.  
  
"I don't care if you're late to pick up your friends, we need to find the rest of the jewel shards and it's not gonna happen on it's own!"  
  
The girls frowned and exchanged worried glances. They were sure that they had never heard that voice before. Upon hearing the back door sliding open and closed they all peered around the bushes. What they saw made Kin boil in anger, Mizuna puzzled and completely confused Kashaku; A teenage boy with silver hair wearing a red men's kimono, walked out of the house carrying an annoyed looking Kagome under his arm.  
  
Putting a hand over her mouth to keep herself from gasping, Mizuna grabbed Kin and Kashaku and pulled them behind the bushes. Frowning she motioned that Kin and Kashaku follow her, Mizuna crept around the bush and looked into the sacred well house just in time to see a flash of silver and red disappearing into the well.  
  
"I thought that Kagome's grandfather sealed the well off..." Kin said.  
  
"He did," Mizuna, replied peering into the well after Kagome and her mysterious kidnapper. "Th-the-there's no one in there!!!" Mizuna said, a little freaked out by this strange new occurrence.  
  
Kin growled and pushed Mizuna out of the way. "There must be some kind of trap door or something, people don't just disappear!" Jumping into the well, she landed gracefully on the bottom only to find a solid dirt ground. Kin growled again, and placed her nose to the ground, resembling Inuyasha when he was trying to pick up a scent.  
  
"Mi-Chan, I'm picking up some pretty weird scents, one of them is Kagome's, but I can't place the other, and it has this really odd smell to it." With that Kin scooped up a handful of the dirt and leapt out of the well in a single jump.  
  
Mizuna took a pinch of the dirt into her hand a sniffed it cautiously before pulling out her laptop.  
  
"Wow, this is really creepy. This dirt is old... Like, feudal ages old." Kashaku said still studying the well in front of her.  
  
Mizuna placed the dirt into the scanning system of her laptop. "Kashaku's right. The dirt is from the feudal era. But that just doesn't make any sense, dirt this old should have been covered up by millions of layers of new soil." Mizuna said snapping her computer shut.  
  
"Maybe Mrs. Higurashi will know what's going on..." Kin said leading the way out of the well house.  
  
Not bothering to knock, the three girls walked into one of their 4 homes away from home. "Mrs. Higurashi! Are you here!?!" Kin yelled into the stillness of the house.  
  
"Kin? Is that you dear?" The voice of Mrs. Higurashi questioned from somewhere upstairs.  
  
"KIN!?! MIZUNA!?! KASHAKU!?! ARE YOU REALLY HERE!?!" Yelled the voice of their rambunctious 'adopted' brother.  
  
"SOUTA!!!" Kashaku beamed at the fourteen-year-old boy they had all come to love as their own brother.  
  
"It IS you!!!" He grinned happily as each one gave him a huge hug.  
  
"We're glad to have you girls back!" Came Mrs. Higurashi's voice as she came into the room and enveloped all three of the girls into a bone- crushing hug.  
  
"It's good to be back Mrs. Higurashi, but we were just wondering where Kagome-Chan is, she was supposed to pick us up from the airport." Mizuna said.  
  
"Yeah, and are you aware that your daughter was just dragged out of here by some psycho wearing an old kimono!?!" Kin asked angrily. Mizuna glared and hissed into her ear, "I was trying NOT to send them into a state of panic!!!"  
  
"Oh, do you mean Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. Seeing their confused expressions she specified, "Was he wearing a red kimono, had silver hair, dog ears and gold eyes?"  
  
"Yes! But where was he taking Kagome, and how did they just 'disappear' into the bone eaters well!?!" Kin asked trying to make sense of why Mrs. Higurashi and Souta were so calm about a psychopath carrying off Kagome.  
  
After an abridged version of what had been happening in the past month, they finally understood what was going on.  
  
"Well, how do we follow Kagome through the well?" Kashaku asked.  
  
"I really don't want you girls going into that time era, Kagome has Inuyasha to protect her from the demons there, but who would protect you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked concerned.  
  
"Well you see... me, Kashaku, and Mizuna, well, we're.... Well, we're demonesses..." Kin said hoping that they would understand.  
  
Souta and Mrs. Higurashi sat there stunned for a minute before they began to avidly question the three demo nesses.  
  
"Wow, I thought you would be a little more stunned by this, but in answer to your questions, Kashaku is a fire demoness, I'm a lightning/kitsune demoness, and Mizuna is a water demoness." Kin answered.  
  
"What do you really look like then?" Souta asked curiously.  
  
The three girls exchanged a quick glance and then they remove their illusions. Mizuna's ears became elf-like and six dark blue stripes appeared on her, two on each cheek and one on either side of her shoulders and a Blue Sapphire appeared on her forehead. Kashaku's appearance stayed the same except for a Ruby appeared in the middle of her forehead. Kin's ears disappeared and two fox ears grew on top of her head, while a Canary Diamond appeared in the center of her forehead.  
  
"COOL!!!" Souta shouted as he ran foreword and began to rub Kin's new ears. She winced, but tolerated Souta's petting.  
  
"Well, I suppose since you can defend yourselves, I can give you this." Mrs. Higurashi said handing Mizuna a shard of the Shikon jewel. "Kagome gave it to me, in case I ever needed to reach her while she was in the Sengoku Jidai."  
  
After thanking Mrs. Higurashi and giving quick hugs to her and Souta, Kashaku, Kin and Mizuna left the Higurashi house, and jumped into the well.  
  
Arriving on the other side, the three girls jumped out of the bone eater's well. Looking around, they found a path that led down to a village. Smelling Kagome's scent, they decided to take the path. When they reached the village, they were met with shouts of "DEMONS!!! QUICK, GATHER YOUR WEAPONS!!!"  
  
Kashaku frowned and asked "Demons, where? I don't smell anything..."  
  
Kin sweatdropped and explained that they were talking about them.  
  
Rolling her eyes Mizuna addressed the villagers, "We mean no harm, we are from Kagome's time, we're her best friends, and can anyone tell me where she is?"  
  
Directly after her little speech, the villagers parted and an old lady hobbled foreword wearing the robes of a priestess and carrying with her a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back. "My name is Kaede, I am the priestess of this village, and how do we know that ye are truly Kagome's friends, and not just some clever demonesses after her jewel shards?"  
  
Mizuna sighed; she hadn't been expecting this much distrust. Walking up to the elderly priestess, she held out her clawed hand and showed Kaede her friendship bracelet.  
  
"That be the same bracelet Kagome is always wearing, and you are wearing clothes that resemble her own... She has traveled with Inuyasha to collect a jewel shard from two troublesome demon brothers."(A/N: Can anyone guess who the brothers are?) The priestess replied.  
  
Mizuna smiled gratefully to her and introduced herself, and her friends to the villagers. After the introductions were complete, Kin asked which direction they went and the three demonesses set off after their missing friend.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Leiko: Okay, now I know that was pretty short too, but *runs behind Kin and shoves her foreword* It was all her!!!  
  
Kin: What!?!  
  
Mizuna: Don't worry Leiko; your readers won't kill you...  
  
Leiko: Aww thanks Mi-Chan!!!  
  
Mizuna: ...Yet...  
  
Leiko: WHAT!?!  
  
Kin: That's what I said...  
  
Readers: Mizuna's right... we're not going to kill you UNTIL you finish your fics, THEN we'll kill you!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Well isn't that comforting...  
  
Kashaku: No it's not...  
  
Kouga: Hun, I think that Fluffy was using sarcasm.  
  
Sesshoumaru: Fl-Fluffy... *Note the extreme control he is using*  
  
Kin: Fl-Fluffy... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
*Kin and Inuyasha are both on the floor laughing their heads off*  
  
Kagome: Um... Inuyasha... I think it would be best if you stopped now...  
  
Kikyo: Cut it out, only I get to tell Inu-chan what to do!!!  
  
Readers: SHUT UP!!!  
  
*Sesshoumaru gets annoyed and knocks Kin into a closet, who ends up taking Hiten with her*  
  
Kin: WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SET UP IS THIS!?!?!  
  
*Inuyasha is no laughing even harder*  
  
Sango: Review... And I'll... uh... send Miroku to your house!!!  
  
Readers: REALLY!?!?!  
  
Miroku: NO!!! The only persons house I want to be at is my beautiful Sango's.  
  
*Sango twitches and hits Miroku with Hirakestsu*  
  
Kagome: But PLEASE review anyway! 


	3. Kidnapped Oh God, not again!

Disclaimer: I'm sorry did you say something?  
  
Lawyers: Where is your disclaimer!?!  
  
Leiko: I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to talk to strangers.  
  
Miroku: And you can't get much stranger than them.  
  
*Kin and Inuyasha start laughing at the lawyers while pointing*  
  
Kin: AHAHAHA!!!  
  
Kagome: Uh, guys? I really don't think that it was that funny...  
  
Inuyasha: No, but *laughs* that is!!!!  
  
*Points at the lawyers... female lawyers*  
  
Sango: YOU PERVERT!!! I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE CAN I!?!?!  
  
Miroku: My dearest Sango, does that mean that you want to be by me for all eternity?  
  
Mizuna: I'm going to start the fic. After all this story is only rated PG- 13... I don't think that the graphic violence that's about to ensue will fit there.  
  
Leiko: But before it starts, let me just say, Ka-chan, this is ME were talking about here, of course I can't get the name right. DUH!!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Artificial Destiny Chapter 2: Kidnapped... Oh Kami, not again!  
  
After about an hour of running with demonic speed, Kin caught wind of Kagome's scent. "Guys, this way, and hurry!!!"  
  
"What is it Kin-chan, is Kagome in trouble?" Kashaku asked, letting her happy-go-lucky façade fall. No one hurt her friends and lived. EVER!  
  
"I hope not..." Kin replied, biting her lip. "It's just that Kagome's scent is mixed with some... less than friendly ones..."  
  
"It doesn't matter if she's really in trouble. There's the possibility that she is, and we have to go make sure she's safe." Said Mizuna, always the voice of reason, even if it killed her.  
  
Nodding to each other, they set of at their fast pace. Mizuna could easily surpass this speed, but then she would leave her adopted sisters in the dust.  
  
When they arrived, the scene they saw had them all boiling in anger. Kagome, their adopted sister, was sitting up on a cloud, being held in place by a... fat toad thingy. To add to that, they saw a sad little Kitsune cub, cowering behind the ridge, obviously frozen in terror, also Inuyasha, the boy to whom they all owed Kagome's life, was locked in a grueling battle with a handsome stranger.  
  
Realizing that sitting there stewing in their anger wasn't going to help Kagome, they dealt with their anger in their own separate ways. Mizuna analyzed the situation, going over all possible outcomes. Kashaku formed fireballs, and used the handsome demon for a bit of target practice. Kin however, chose to vent, by saving her sister.  
  
Kin jumped gracefully into the air, and snatched Kagome out of the fat toad thingy's grasp. Turning in mid-air, she stuck her tongue out at it, in a very juvenile manner. Landing, she set Kagome down before giving her a big hug. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into some kind of trouble can we?"  
  
Kagome stared at them for a few minutes in a state of shock. When she regained her senses, she ran to each of her friends in turn and hugging them which effectively disrupting their whole "venting" session. Kashaku and Kagome began jumping around in circles holding hands and squealing, while Kin watched them, laughing at their little dance. And Mizuna even gave one of her rare real smiles.  
  
There happy little reunion was cut short by the fat toad thingy's shrieks of anger. "Brother!!! They have stolen the girl from me!!!"  
  
The handsome Youkai stopped fooling around, and with one swift movement, sent Inuyasha sprawling across the ground. "So, I see that our little friend brought herself some reinforcements. Not that it matters, I can take whatever you weaklings throw at me and more!"  
  
"W-w-weaklings!?!" Kin finally managed to ground out. "I'll show you just how much of a 'weakling' I can be!!!" Kin hadn't been in a very agreeable mood all day, and being called a weakling by some chauvinistic Youkai was the last straw. Running at the demon, she launched herself into the air when she was about a yard away from him. When she reached the point where she was directly over the offensive Youkai, she let loose one of her most powerful lightning attacks before flipping lightly in the air and landing on her feet, facing away from where his scorch mark should be.  
  
"I see that you have control over lightning as well. Impressive." Kin twirled around so fast that she was in danger of losing her balance.  
  
Kin let out a feral growl when she saw an arrogant smirk on his face. "I don't need lightning to take you down!!!" Running at him at her top speed, the only people who could see her were Mizuna, and possibly her opponent, though this was doubtful.  
  
Reappearing directly in front of the Youkai, her had shot out in a quick undercut followed by a perfectly executed roundhouse kick to his chest. Over all her attack was swift and brutal. The after math of her combined attacks sent the demon flying back several feet only to land roughly with a bit of skidding.  
  
Grinning proudly at her success, the blonde lightning Kitsune struck a dramatic, "Haha! You suck and I just kicked your ass" pose.  
  
When he didn't make a move to get up, Kin turned back to her friends a little bit bewildered. 'I know I'm good... But he must REALLY be bad if he was down after only one attack... It's too bad though... He was hot... AGH!!!!!! I DID NOT JUST THINK THAT!!! Nope, he's just some pathetic weakling... yup, he's pathetic, stupid, weak, hot, sexy... Ok, where was I going with this again? No, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts!!!' Unknown to her, Kin's "Defeated" foe, was thinking the same thing, without her obvious restraint.  
  
Kin's head snapped up when she realized that she was being talked to... er... screamed at anyway. Frowning, she watched in confused amusement as Kashaku, Kagome, and the little Kitsune cub started waving their hands around frantically. She then rolled her eyes. 'How do they expect me to understand that?' Her gaze then skimmed over the now sulking Hanyou before it settled on Mizuna for an explanation.  
  
'Uh oh...' Kin's cold friend was currently flicking her gaze between Kin, and something behind Kin, and every time her gaze was on the Kitsune, she had this irritated, "I can't believe you did something that stupid" look on her face. Bracing herself, she awaited the attack.  
  
Just as Kin had expected, she felt someone's foot connect solidly with her back. What she didn't expect was the force behind the kick. The Youkai's kick was well placed, and it sent her flying much farther than her attack had sent him. But also unlike him, Kin didn't skid; instead she flipped neatly and landed on her feet. But then her body kept going and she ended up on her butt glaring at the Youkai before her.  
  
"You're not bad, in fact I find you to be a rather worthy adversary. My name is Hiten, and that is my brother Monten," He said, pointing at the fat toad thingy on the cloud. "We are the Reishu brothers."  
  
She glared at him begrudgingly, but now that his name had been given, proper protocol demanded that she respond in turn. "I am Kin Raikatuji. These are Kashaku Hitomi, Mizuna Arishima, and I believe that you've already met Kagome and Inuyasha." Kin said, gesturing at first herself, and then all of her friends in turn.  
  
Hiten smiled at her, allowing his fangs to show. As he walked towards her in a menacing way, his long queue swishing behind him. He continued walking until he was less than a foot away. He then tilted his head down so that he could look her in the eye. He virtually towered over her at his height of 6'4" to her miniscule 5'9".  
  
Never one to give up, Kin glared defiantly into his amused face. "Now that we've been introduced, can we get on with it?"  
  
At this, Hiten's smirk grew and his eyebrow rose unconsciously. "Are you always this impatient?"  
  
In response to his question, he only received a glare. Kin then jumped back, and sunk into her fighting stance. Without waiting for him to prepare, she was off like a shot, punching and kicking him with enough speed and force to take down almost any demon.  
  
However Hiten is not almost any demon. He countered every single one of her attacks before coming back with his own barrage of massive blows. Kin was finding it harder and harder to keep this pace up, as Hiten seemed to be speeding up with every hit.  
  
Knowing she couldn't beat him in close combat, she leapt while sweeping her clawed hand in an arc towards him. As her nails traveled along the arc, five bolts of lightning were emitted, one from each of her fingers.  
  
While the lightning itself couldn't hurt him, the force at which it traveled left Hiten panting for breath, and sprawled a few yards away. He rose slowly, wiping away a bit of blood that had dribbled out of his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he did the unexpected. He smiled and began clapping lightly. "Very good. You almost had me there. Almost."  
  
Crossing his arms over his chest, Hiten grinned cheekily at his attractive female opponent before disappearing. Milliseconds later he re-appeared directly behind Kin, wrapping his arms around her, he locked her in a chokehold. Leaning in close to her, he placed his mouth right next to her ear. "You know, you're hot when you're mad. Your face gets all flushed, and your ears start twitching in the most adorable way and then your gorgeous eye start flashing in this really sexy way."  
  
Kin had gotten very red with every comment that came out of Hiten's mouth. With a growl beginning in her throat, she grabbed the arm that was around her neck, and then jumped back, putting her weight onto him. When she came down, the velocity caused him to flip over her shoulder. Sadly, he simply turned in mid-air and landed deftly on his feet.  
  
"Okay, this is getting boring, but don't worry, we'll continue this later." Hiten then floated up so that he was hovering several yards in the air, turning to Monten, he continued. "Monten, we're going, leave the other girl, we have no use for her."  
  
At the thought of being ditched Kin began seeing red. "YOU COWARD!!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A YOUKAI!!! WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU'RE GONNA WISH THAT YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!?!?!?!"  
  
Hiten turned his head so that he could see her out of the corner of his eye while still facing in the opposite direction. "Who said I was leaving without you?"  
  
Before Kin had time to decipher what he had meant, Hiten swooped down with amazing speed. When he reached her, he brought a hand up to her shoulder, hitting a pressure point that would knock her out for hours. Kin instantly passed out, her body becoming limp, but before she could hit the ground, Hiten had her in his arms bridal style. Nodding in a mock salute to the Inu gang, he took off, with his fat-toad-thingy of a brother trailing along behind him still on the cloud.  
  
"MIZUNA!!! HURRY!!! YOU CAN FOLLOW THEM!!!" Kashaku ran up to her cold friend and grabbed her arm desperately. Mizuna pulled out of her grasp and turned away.  
  
"No."  
  
"B-b-b-bu-but Mi-chan!!! Kin NEEDS us!!!!!"  
  
Mizuna winced slightly as her friend began sobbing, but made no move to give chase to the Reisho brothers. She continued facing the other way so that they wouldn't see her tears. 'Damnit Kin! WHY!?!'  
  
As the last tear made it's way silently down her cheek, Mizuna's pale pallor returned. After a few more seconds, there was no sign that she had been crying at all.  
  
Mizuna started slightly as she felt a weight on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the small Kitsune cub from before. "Why aren't you going to help her!?! Don't you care about her!?!"  
  
Seemingly ignoring the child's questions, she turned her gaze forward once again. "We need to go back to Kaede's village." Her voice was a monotonous drone instead of her usually sarcastic voice. Without waiting for their reply, she began walking in the direction of the village.  
  
They had been walking in silence for an hour before anyone said anything. "Why?" Kashaku asked in a whisper so soft that Mizuna could barely hear it.  
  
Stopping mid-step, the water demoness nearly unseated the boy she now knew was Shippo from her shoulder. Turning deftly on her heal, she walked with deadly precision over to Kagome and grabbed her friend's arm. She then quickly pulled up the sleeve of the miko's school uniform to reveal a huge gash.  
  
Kagome blushed hotly, and muttered, "Now that you know..." in a soft voice before collapsing into Mizuna's arms. Lifting her friend off the ground, she walked over to the sulking Hanyou. Depositing the unconscious girl into his arms, she began walking towards the village once again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kashaku: mmmmhmhmmmmhmhm!!!  
  
Leiko: What happened to her?  
  
Kagome: Kin?  
  
*Kin grins and holds up an empty jar of peanut butter*  
  
Kashaku: I like peanut butter!  
  
*Everyone turns to face Kashaku who still has her mouth stuck shut*  
  
Inuyasha: WHAT THE FUCK!?!  
  
Kashaku: I tapped this in case Kin-chan ever tricked me into eating a whole jar of peanut butter.  
  
*All the feeling people twitched as they saw a tape-recorder*  
  
Tape-recorder: Thanks for reviewing peoples!!! Leiko will address you all by name in the next chapter.  
  
Readers: Why in the next one?  
  
Tape-recorder: Because she just passed out on the floor.  
  
Sesshoumaru: Read and Review.  
  
Tape-recorder: NO FAIR!!!!! I WANTED TO SAY THAT!!! 


	4. Getting to know you

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Tape Recorder: Leiko, admit it, you don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Leiko: HA!!!  
  
Tape Recorder: Ha what? I already new that you had said it; I was just trying to make you feel secure.  
  
Sesshoumaru: This... Thing is irritating me.  
  
Kin: IF YOU WOULD LET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN CLOSET THEN I WILL BREAK IT FOR YOU!!!  
  
Mizuna: That reminds me, how did you give Kashaku the jar of peanut butter when you were locked in the closet?  
  
Kin: I have my ways!!! *Insert conceited laughter here*  
  
*Tape recorder joins in conceited laughter*  
  
*Tape recorder and Kin stop at same time*  
  
Inuyasha: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THIS THING!?!?!  
  
Tape Recorder: oh, Inu-chan, you, Kin and Hiten are such potty mouths.  
  
Kin: DON'T COMPARE ME TO THAT- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NOW!?!?!  
  
Hiten: My hand was falling asleep so I moved it.  
  
Kin: WELL MOVE IT AGAIN BEFORE I BREAK IT!!!!!!!!  
  
Hiten: Kin, that's not my hand... That's my hair.  
  
Tape Recorder: What did you sick people think that he was talking about?  
  
Sesshoumaru: I shall leave now.  
  
Tape Recorder: Bye Fluffy!!!  
  
*Sesshoumaru turns with a twitch*  
  
Tape Recorder: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Leiko: This is getting freaky...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kagome woke up the next morning with only a slight fever. When Kaede had finished redressing her wound, she walked outside. She blushed crimson when all of her friends looked up at her. "Look, I'm REALLY sorry about that you guys... I'll make it up to you-"  
  
Here she was cut off by a little fluff ball flinging itself at her. "KAGOME THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT!!!" He then perched himself on her shoulder and looked out at the others through her curtain of raven locks.  
  
"Shippo? What's wrong? Did something happen?" She asked the little Kitsune who had currently taken up residence in her hair.  
  
"INUYASHA'S A MEANIE HEAD!!!" He said, sticking his head out just long enough to stick his tongue out at the irritable Hanyou.  
  
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Inuyasha shouted, balling his hand into a fist and taking a step foreword.  
  
*SLAM* Inuyasha now lay twitching on the ground. Mizuna, frying pan still poised in her hand, didn't even look up from her reading. "Shut up Inuyasha. And Shippo, don't provoke him again or next time I'm not going to stop him."  
  
"K-Kagome... You'll protect me won't you?" Shippo asked, his bottom lip quivering, as he began to cry.  
  
Kagome sighed and tried not to give in to his adorable pouting face. "I'm sorry Shippo, but if you hadn't been bothering Inuyasha than he wouldn't have gotten mad at you."  
  
Shippo pouted but nodded his head sullenly. Kagome gave him a bright smile before turning back to face the rest of the group.  
  
Inuyasha got up and tucked his hands into his sleeves and walked over to her, eyes cast to the side. He stopped when he was in front of the blue- eyed Miko and without looking up said, "So... How are you wounds doing?"  
  
Inuyasha glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and quickly lost his nerve to say anything nice. Wrenching his gaze of Kagome, he continued. "Feh... It's not like I care or anything... I just want to go shard hu-"  
  
Being knocked over the head with a frying pan once again cut him off. Mizuna towered over Inuyasha, frying pan in one hand, her book being held up to her face by the other. Looking over the top of her book, she glared at him. "Inuyasha. Try not to talk, it makes you look stupid."  
  
Inuyasha growled from his spot on the ground, and launched himself at the water demon. Mizuna frowned and rolled her eyes, appearing on the other side of the angry teen and hit him once again with the pan, coincidentally, Kagome happened to yell sit at the same time.  
  
So that's how Inuyasha ended up 6 feet under twitching with swirly eyes. Mizuna dropped the frying pan into Inuyasha's indention in a way that it landed on his head for the forth time that day. She then pocketed her book into the deep pockets of her black cargo pants. They had arrived at the village yesterday, and since then she and Kashaku had changed their clothes and Kagome would the second she was up to taking a bath. And judging by the way Kagome didn't seem to have a problem with walking that would be soon.  
  
Mizuna walked over to Kagome and examined the wound through the bandages. "I can heal that for you."  
  
Kagome pulled her arm back and shook her head. "No, it's ok, really! I can manage!"  
  
Mizuna glared at her friend, her keen gaze taking in the way Kagome winced when she jerked the arm away. "Kagome, don't be difficult." She took the arm back and undid the bandage. Holding her hand a few inches above the wound, she concentrated hard on the gash. Her hand glowed a deep blue as did the wound before it healed up, leaving her skin as flawless as before, not even so much as a wound.  
  
Inuyasha, who by this time was out of the hole and walking, strolled up to her and made it his job to poke the spot where the wound once was to see if it was really gone. And Shippo and Kashaku, being a small young child, for a demon, and Kashaku being... Well, Kashaku, of course had to assist him.  
  
Mizuna however was thankful for this, that way no one was paying close enough attention to her to see that she was a little paler than usual. Looking at her friends, she knew that wasting her powers like that was worth it.  
  
At the moment, Kagome was laughing and running away from Inuyasha, Kashaku and Shippo. They were all laughing and all in all having a great time, even Inuyasha, who usually only watched from a tree.  
  
She smiled softly at them before removing a golden locket from her dark blue, "Criticism. Just one more of the services that I offer" shirt. The locket itself wasn't really anything special, but the canary diamond located in the center of the locket.  
  
Gripping the locket tightly in her hand, Mizuna thought back to when her 'sister' had given it to her.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
A hand on her arm right held Mizuna back before she jumped into the well. Turning, she saw Kin looking directly into her eyes before looking down.  
  
"I... I don't have a good feeling about this Mizuna... I want you to promise me something."  
  
Mizuna looked at her friend's bowed head. And nodded silently. "I agree Kin. Why are you so worried?"  
  
Kin shrugged, and laughed a bit to try and lift the serious mood. "Oh, it's nothing... But just promise me... Promise me that you will ignore what happens to me... Protect Kagome; protect her until she can protect herself... And Kashaku as well..." She gave an actually laugh here, "You know she doesn't worry about the consequences of her actions..."  
  
Mizuna saw that Kin was getting rather depressed. "I could say the same of you."  
  
Kin grinned up at her, the unshed tears in her eyes diminishing until there were none. "Thanks Mizuna. Here, take this, to remember your promise..." Kin then unfastened her locket, the only memory of her father that she had left. Putting it into Mizuna's hand, she continued. "Keep it safe. Or I'll get mad!"  
  
*End flashback*  
  
Mizuna turned away from her friends, wiping away a stray tear. Her friends... They were the only weakness in her icy heart. Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of such thoughts. "Kagome, if you're ready, you can go take a bath and change out of those clothes." She then sat back down with her back to a random tree. Pulling her book out, she continued reading.  
  
Kashaku and Shippo decided to go bathe with their friend, leaving Mizuna and Inuyasha alone. Mizuna kept on reading, seemingly ignoring the Hanyou who was staring fixedly at her.  
  
After awhile Inuyasha broke the silence. "Why?"  
  
She viewed him out of the corner of her eye. Pulling the locket out from her shirt, she held it up so that it glittered in the light. "A promise..."  
  
They sat there for a while, each lost in their memories. Mizuna had replaced the locket, and had focused her attention back onto her book. She continued reading, and memorizing, but her mind was elsewhere. Inuyasha on the other hand was more obvious about his thoughts. He sat in the tree above Mizuna, staring off into space with a faraway look on his face.  
  
Kagome, Kashaku and Shippo's terrified screams interrupted their 'down time'. Inuyasha leapt out of the tree and ran all out towards the screams, with a valiant shout of, "KAGOME!!!!!!!"  
  
Mizuna narrowed her eyes. "This had better not be a joke." She seemingly disappeared and reappeared at the water's edge.  
  
Towering over them all was a 16-foot tall dragon. He, yes, it was a guy, was a huge ugly traditionally English dragon (As opposed to the long sinewy ones of China and Japan) and was on the fat side of medium. "GIVE ME YOUR SHARDSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!" He hissed, lunging at the bathers.  
  
They had apparently just been getting out of the water because all they had to cover themselves with were towels. Kagome grabbed Shippo and hurled herself to the side just in time to miss being eaten while Kashaku threw herself to the other side.  
  
Kashaku's eyes widened in horror when she saw the damage he had done. The dragon had... he had... HE GOT MY BAG WET!!!!!!!!! And by bag, I mean her backpack, and by backpack I mean what was in her backpack, and by what was in her backpack I meant her Cheeto collection.  
  
Kashaku's mouth opened in a silent scream, which as soon as she re-found her voice became a real scream. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
When she finally stopped screaming, which was only when the mud under her feet gave way and she fell onto her butt, the people around her were basically on their knees from the force of the scream. The two who had suffered the second worst were Inuyasha who had rammed his head through a tree to try and get the sound out of his head and Shippo who had buried his head into the soft earth like an ostrich. Kagome was probably the one least affected by the sound, but she was still holding her head in pain, you know, other than the dragon who couldn't actually hear, but even he was sent flying back by the sheer force of the sound vibrations.  
  
Mizuna was the only one who didn't move, and that was just because she NEVER let anyone see her in ANY moment of weakness. However on the inside a little chibi Mizuna was running around in circles hitting herself on the head with a one of her many thick books trying to make the sound stop. 'At least Kin's not here...'  
  
Everyone pretty much just sat there for a few minutes, most trying to get the ringing out of their ears; one trying to sit up from his little "flight" and lastly, the one who caused all the pain was currently mourning the loss of her Cheetos by staring fixedly at her wet backpack.  
  
When their group... and the dragon... had regained their bearings, the battle commenced.  
  
Inuyasha drew Tetsaiga and was about to launch at the pathetic demon, when a porcelain hand stopped him. Mizuna turned her head slightly and viewed him out of the corner of her eye; she then shook her head signaling him not to attack. Pointing her clawed hand towards Kashaku, she directed his attention to the fire demoness, who was herself, preparing to kill the dragon.  
  
"Let Kashaku have her revenge." Mizuna stated coolly, turning her back on the soon to be battle. The water demoness left her friends in favor of making a late breakfast. Before she left the clearing, she turned her head towards Kashaku. "Kashaku, fried or scrambled?"  
  
Her red-haired friend looked up from glaring at the soon-to-be-dead dragon. "Fried please Mi-chan, oh! And can we have bacon too?"  
  
Mizuna nodded and turned towards the others. "Kagome, what about you? Inuyasha, Shippo?"  
  
"Scrambled please." Mizuna nodded affirmation; she then turned her attention to the males of their group. "Inuyasha, Shippo, fried or scrambled?"  
  
Shippo stared at her blankly while Inuyasha turned away with an angry expression rather than showing that he had no idea what she was talking about. Kagome and Mizuna sweatdropped.  
  
Shaking her head, Mizuna continued along the path. 'Both it is...'  
  
Kashaku grinned evilly at the demon and cracked her knuckles. It was time to get down to business. This stupid dragon had ruined her Cheetos, and now it was going to pay!!!  
  
The dragon started out the battle with a blast of fire. Kashaku put one hand out in front of her, it glowed red and the fire split a foot in front of her. She smirked; this was going to be easy. It was her turn now; she launched herself at the dragon and pulling her scythe out of nowhere, split the monster in half.  
  
"Kashaku! There's a jewel shard at the tip of its tail!!!" Kashaku turned her head to face Kagome. She shrugged and walking over to the tail, pulled out the shard and tossed it to her friend.  
  
"There ya go Kag-chan!!!" She said smiling. Kashaku then skipped over to her bag, scooped it up and continued skipping towards the well. "Kagome, tell Mi-chan that I'll be back in a few minutes, I have to go restock on chips!!!"  
  
"Kashaku! Get me some pocky while you're there, and some chocolate for Shippo, and Inuyasha will want some Ramen!!!" She yelled, waving at her friend.  
  
"K! Be back soon!!!" The hyper red head waved at them before disappearing into the woods.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
*Everyone is happily eating chocolate ice cream on the floor in celebration of Leiko's updating*  
  
Kin: Leiko... As much as I'm enjoying this... LET ME OUT OF THIS GODDAMN CLOSET!!!!!!! AND SAVE ME SOME OF THAT ICE CREAM YOU ASSHOLES!!!!  
  
Kashaku: Wow... Kin gets cranky when she's been locked in a closet for 2 days without food, or more importantly sugar... Who knew...  
  
Mizuna: Kin... Why haven't you and Hiten simply destroyed the door to get out?  
  
Kin: YES!!!!!! THANK YOU MI-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Leiko: That reminds me...  
  
*Slaps demon seals on door*  
  
Leiko: I like that door. So you can't destroy it.  
  
Kin: LEIKO!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!! WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT!?!?! ME!?!?! OR A FREAKING DOOR!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  
  
*Crickets chirp*  
  
Kin: Leiko...? Leiko? LEIKO!?!  
  
Leiko: Just give me a minute... I'm thinking about it...  
  
Kashaku: Read and... What's that other thing?  
  
Mizuna: Review.  
  
Kashaku: Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, REVIEW... I knew that.  
  
Mizuna: Sure you did.  
  
Kashaku: I am sure I did.  
  
Mizuna: -.-o  
  
Kashaku: ^.^ 


	5. Monks and Mayhem

Disclaimer: 1) I don't own Inuyasha, 2) I am sorry to say that I don't actually own the Tape Recorder...  
  
Kashaku: It's mine.  
  
Tape Recorder: Yup!  
  
Inuyasha: Why is that thing still talking?  
  
Tape Recorder: Why are YOU still talking?  
  
Inuyasha: THAT'S IT I'M GOING TO BREAK THAT-  
  
Kashaku: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!  
  
*Kashaku tackles Kouga*  
  
Kouga: Um... Inuyasha's over there hon.  
  
Kashaku: Oh.  
  
Tape Recorder: SAVE ME!!!!!!!!!  
  
*Kouga holds Kashaku back*  
  
Kouga: It's the "recorder's" time to go...  
  
Kashaku: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  
  
*Mizuna rolls eyes and takes Tape Recorder away from Inuyasha before he can break it*  
  
Mizuna: If I ever see this Tape Recorder again, I am going to break it personally.  
  
Kashaku: Thanks Mi-chan!  
  
*Lawyers appear*  
  
Lawyers: Where's your disclaimer!?!  
  
Kin: You morons, you're late! She already said it!!!  
  
Lawyers: Oh... Never mind then.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Kashaku and Shippo made a game out of cleaning up, Kagome, Inuyasha and Mizuna decided on where to go next.  
  
"I still say we go rescue Kin!!!"  
  
"As I told you before Kagome, our time would be better spent collecting the shards of the jewel."  
  
"I agree with Kagome. As important as the shards are, we still have to save that dumb girl." Inuyasha threw in his 2 cents for up above them in a tree.  
  
Mizuna frowned; she was beginning to get irritated by their persistence. "Don't mettle in things you don't understand."  
  
Kagome glared at the demoness before tears began welling up in her eyes. "I'm TRYING to understand!"  
  
Mizuna sighed and leaned her back against the tree. She didn't want to deal with this. "Kagome..." She sighed again. "Kin made me promise that I wouldn't save her. She knew that something like this was going to happen. And don't look at me like that Kagome. I am perfectly aware of what I am doing. Besides, she is not in any immediate danger, the people of Japan however are."  
  
Mizuna stopped leaning against the tree and straightened up to her full height. "There is a rumor circulating that there is a jewel shard somewhere in the next village. If we leave now we should reach it soon."  
  
Kagome nodded her consent and they all began to pack things up and begin their journey.  
  
~*~  
  
Kin yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Kami... What hit me?"  
  
"That would be me."  
  
Kin jerked up from her lying position and took a fighting stance facing the owner of the voice. Only to fall back onto the futon. "Damn... Are you sure I wasn't hit by a train or something?"  
  
Hiten raised an eyebrow at her language, but didn't comment on it. "What's a 'train?'"  
  
Kin stared at him a second before remembering that they were in the Sengoku Jidai. "Never mind..." Hiten glared at her, he had apparently expected an answer. 'Yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen...' "So where are we anyway?"  
  
"It doesn't matter..." He retorted, his voice matching her's.  
  
Kin glared, she didn't care if he was stronger than her! He was going to give her an answer damn it! Standing up, she ignored the pounding in her head and walked over to him, occasionally putting a hand out her hand out to steady her. Reaching him, she crabbed his collar and jerked his face down to her level. "Where. The fuck. Am I?" She asked in a dangerously low voice.  
  
He frowned at her and knocking her hands away, stood up straight. "What's a train?" He countered in a neutral voice with an underlying tone of amusement.  
  
Kin continued glaring at him before huffing. "A train is a huge metal transportation system. And if that doesn't satisfy your curiosity, well then fuck you!"  
  
Hiten once again raised an eyebrow at her choice of language. "You should get some rest, I'll come by later when you're not... 'Grumpy.'" With that being said he moved aside the mat covering the door and began to leave.  
  
"HEY!!!!!!!! I TOLD YOU WHAT A TRAIN IS!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"And...?"  
  
Kin growled and began advancing on him. Hiten smirked. "We're at my home." He then left the room leaving her to rest.  
  
"Yeah, THAT was helpful..." Kin said, rolling her golden eyes. She then let out a tremendous yawn. "Kami... It's even more annoying when he's right then when Mizuna is..."  
  
Those were her last thoughts as she fell into a conveniently positioned chair, fast asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
"Are we-"  
  
"NO WE ARE NOT THERE YET!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha shouted, getting fed up with Kashaku's endless question.  
  
"How 'bout now?"  
  
"Kashaku."  
  
"Yes Mi-chan?"  
  
"Be quiet."  
  
"Ok..."  
  
Mizuna rubbed her eyes. First she healed Kagome's wound, and now she was walking to a not-so-nearby village to face a most likely, powerful demon all without rest. And she wasn't handling it very well.  
  
Looking up at the sky she saw that the night was swiftly approaching. "Let's make camp here. There's even a hot spring nearby."  
  
"YAY!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE HERE!!!!!!!!!!" Kashaku yelled happily before grabbing Shippo off Kagome's shoulder and dancing around with him.  
  
The rest of the gang sweatdropped. "Um... Kashaku? We're just making camp here, we're not at the next village..."  
  
"I know I'm just practicing." Kashaku said as if she was pointing out the obvious.  
  
Mizuna and Kagome rolled their eyes while Inuyasha fell over anime style. Shippo however was now walking around with swirly eyes trying to make the world stop spinning.  
  
The girls shrugged their backpacks off and set them on the dirt floor. Then they each pulled out a few of their necessities. Then they all walked past Inuyasha in the direction of the hot spring.  
  
"Have fun setting up camp Inuyasha." Kagome said lightly as she brushed past the Hanyou.  
  
"And if you even think of peaking, I'm going to rip off those cute little dog ears of yours." Kashaku said with a glare. The others stared at her. "What!?! Kin's not here so SOMEONE has to do it..." With that she gave them a stop-staring-at-me-someone-had-to-act-like-Kin-and-ya'll-weren't-so-I-had- to look before skipping off to the hot spring.  
  
The other two girls shook their heads before following the energetic fire demoness.  
  
Reaching the steaming spring, the girls striped out of their clothes and slipped into the water.  
  
"You better not peak on us!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha.  
  
From behind the rocks a young man looks around the rocks to see three gorgeous girls bathing. Not that he could see anything other than their faces; all three were fully submerged in the water. 'Was she talking to me?' Was he first thought, followed by, 'WHOA!!! She has a piece of the Shikon jewel, and it's huge!'  
  
"Feh, why would I want to?" Inuyasha replied in his usual gruff tone. Next to the silver haired teen, Shippo had gotten undressed and was about to go jump into the water with the girls. Only to be stopped mid-jump by being caught by his tail.  
  
"And just where do you think you're going?" Inuyasha asked, glaring at the adorable little boy.  
  
"I was going to bathe with them. Why don't you come join us Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched as he began blushing uncontrollably.  
  
"Me, my mom and my dad used to take baths together all the time! Just think of how much fun we can have since there's five of us!" Shippo said, getting an excited look on his face.  
  
"I'll explain it to ya when you're bigger."  
  
"Oh, I guess you haven't gotten very far with Kagome... Whatever that means..."  
  
"I'll tell you in 50 years... When you're old enough to understand..." Inuyasha wasn't red anymore. He was more of a crimsony color.  
  
Mizuna and Kashaku, who both had demonic hearing, were practically falling over laughing... Well, Kashaku was laughing her head off, and Mizuna had sunk into the water so that her laughter was smothered. We wouldn't want her image to get ruined now would we?  
  
Miroku sighed. 'I do so hate to resort to violence... especially on ladies...'  
  
~*~  
  
The next morning the group was up bright and early ready to finish their trip to the next town.  
  
Inuyasha, Kashaku and Mizuna were all running alongside Kagome who was riding her bike. A few minutes into their journey, a huge... "Thing" came out of nowhere, it slid down the mountainside and knocked Inuyasha down with it.  
  
Kagome stopped her bike and got off it to try and see what had happened to Inuyasha. That was when Miroku grabbed her from behind and took off on her bike. "I wanted the shard of the Shikon no Tama, and I even got a pretty girl out of the deal!"  
  
"HEL- HEY!!! Wait a minute!!! Are you saying that I'm some kind of consolation prize!?!" Kagome yelled in his ear, turning in her fear in favor of anger.  
  
During the time while Miroku was running off with Kagome and the jewel shards they had collected so far, Mizuna was saving Inuyasha. She grabbed the 'thing's' tail and hurled him away from Inuyasha, motioning that she would take care of it.  
  
Inuyasha nodded in understanding and leapt back up the mountainside to save Kagome. Inuyasha jumped back onto the road and launched himself at the bike. When he pulled up alongside the bike, the first thing he did was grab Kagome and put her down safely on the ground before going back for the jewel shards.  
  
He once again launched himself at the bike, though this time he actually hit it, causing the bike and it's rider to go off course. The bike fell to the ground while Miroku landed lightly on the ground. Facing off against Inuyasha he unwound the light blue prayer beads from around his hand. "Wind tunnel!!!"  
  
Inuyasha Pulled Tetsaiga out and stuck into the ground, trying to resist the tremendous force of the winds that were trying to pull him into the dark abyss.  
  
"NO!!!!!!! NOT MY BIKE!!!!!!!!!" Kagome screamed as she began running for her main mode of transportation. Seeing where she was heading, Kashaku jumped in front of her, blocking her way to an early grave.  
  
Mizuna now stood on the sidelines, watching the battle with interest while the raccoon demon lay underneath her foot with swirly eyes. She played the scene over again in her mind. Focusing on when Miroku's eyes had flicked over to Kagome with worry when she started running for her bike, and how his hand had twitched, ready to cover his hand back up at a moments notice.  
  
"Kashaku." Mizuna said in her usual monotone, facing her friend. "If you jump in front of Inuyasha you'll be given the power to fly."  
  
"Really!?!" Kashaku asked excitedly.  
  
"Yeah..." Mizuna inwardly shook her head. 'Kami she's gullible... I need to work on that.'  
  
Kashaku let go of her raven-haired friend and threw herself into the line of fire, or wind if you want to be picky about it. As Mizuna calculated, the monk re-covered his hand before Kashaku was sucked into the vortex.  
  
The fire demoness landed on Miroku with a thud, knocking him onto his back. "That was fun!!! Can I do it again!?! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
That was when she felt something creep up her backside. Looking at the seemingly unconscious man, she poked him in the face. "Why are you touching my butt?" She asked innocently.  
  
The rest of the gang fell over anime style. Walking over to Miroku and Kashaku, Kagome extended her hand to the monk and helped him up. "Hi, my name's Kagome, what's yours?"  
  
"My name is Miroku fair maiden, and I was wondering if you would do me the honor of bearing my children?" Miroku asked Kagome, holding both of her hands in his own.  
  
Kagome twitched. Mizuna snickered. Kashaku looked bewildered. Shippo danced around not paying attention. Inuyasha fumed and grabbed the monk by his collar. "OY!!! LEAVE KAGOME ALONE!!!"  
  
"Oh dear, how awkward, is this girl yours?"  
  
"Wh-no-sh-uh?" Was Inuyasha's oh-so-intelligent reply. He was now blushing furiously, but rather than admit anything, he opened his big mouth. Well, he would have, but Kashaku had found her missing ducttape.  
  
"YAY DUCTTAPE!!!!!!!" Kashaku screamed happily waving around the thick silver tape.  
  
Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo stared at her, not understanding. Mizuna and Kagome on the other hand just shook their heads sadly and threw their arms up in the air, silently asking why? Why them? Why not some other random heroes?  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU-" Sadly, Inuyasha never got to finish his question.  
  
"There, that should teach you not to be a potty mouth Mr. Potty Mouth." Kashaku was now looking quite self-satisfied and, well... Inuyasha was trying to get the "tape" off of his mouth.  
  
"Kashaku! That wasn't very nice!" Kagome reprimanded her friend harshly. But the way she kept breaking out into giggles made one question her seriousness. Miroku and Shippo, though they still weren't quite sure what was going, were laughing. I mean, who WOULDN'T be laughing? Inuyasha was red-faced and growling deep in his throat while trying to get his mouth free.  
  
The only one not tempted to laugh, was Mizuna, but even she wasn't completely immune.  
  
(A/N: Now, I would normally stop it somewhere around here, but I'm feeling inspired... and decidedly bored, soooooooo... you get an extra long chappie! Cheers!)  
  
When Kagome couldn't stand it anymore, she walked over to where Inuyasha was still struggling and yanked the tape off his mouth. Inuyasha let out a howl of pain before covering his mouth and glaring at her. "What the hell was that for!?!"  
  
Kagome returned his glare with one of her own. "You wanted that off your mouth didn't you? Or should I just put it back?" Saying this, she began advancing on him with the tape in hand.  
  
Inuyasha shook his head frantically and slapped his hands over his mouth so that she couldn't reach it.  
  
Kagome only stopped when she heard a child's scream. "KAGOME!!!!!!!!!" She whirled around, her eyes frantically searching for the source. Her eyes finally landed on poor little Shippo who was now ducttaped to a tree. As bad as she felt for the Kitsune cub, she couldn't help but laugh at his indignant expression. Inuyasha was also laughing his ass off at the cub.  
  
Mizuna shook her head and looked around for Kashaku before she could do anymore damage. Too late... Miroku was now hanging upside down from a tall tree, wrapped up like a cocoon. Kashaku was once again in sight, this time skipping around her newest victim chanting some random song. The blue- haired demoness sighed in resignation.  
  
Appearing behind the redheaded girl she snatched the roll of tape away from her friend before she could do any more damage... Not that there was anything left she could do... Well, she could do something to Kagome... Or Mizuna if she was feeling like digging herself an early grave.  
  
"Mizunaaaaaaaaaaa!!! C'mon!!! Give it back!!!"  
  
Mizuna raised her eyebrows. She then gave her friend something else to distract herself with. "Here." In her outstretched hand was a shiny new quarter.  
  
"Shiny..." Kashaku said breathlessly, reaching for the shiny token.  
  
"Yes Kashaku, it's shiny." Mizuna shook her head and shoved the coin into Kashaku's hand. Turning back to her victims, Mizuna splashed each with a bit of water, causing the tape to be less sticky. "Inuyasha, please slice through the tape."  
  
Inuyasha nodded, still snickering and did as he was asked. (That's a first)  
  
When everyone was free, Mizuna turned to the black haired monk. "Well... Since you've already passed our little... Initiation, I would like to invite you to travel with us."  
  
Miroku was suddenly in front of Mizuna, her hands in his. "Oh my beautiful blue goddess, I see now that it was you who was in love with me all along!" At this point in his speech he removed one of his hands from hers and placed it on her waist.  
  
Before he could continue, Mizuna interrupted him. "Monk, if your hand continues on its course, I am going to rip off your hand so that no one has to deal with your lecherous tendencies."  
  
Miroku immediately removed his hands with a chuckle. "My mistake my lady, I meant no harm... But I believe that I will take you up on your invitation."  
  
"WHAT!?! NO WAY!!!" Inuyasha shouted indignantly.  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha?" She said softly, advancing on him.  
  
"Y-yes Kagome?" He asked nervously.  
  
"Sit boy."  
  
"SLAM!!!!!" Inuyasha now had another imprint of himself in the dirt.  
  
"Well now, that's a handy trick." Miroku said standing over Inuyasha's newest hole.  
  
"Shut up monk." Came Inuyasha's response from underground.  
  
"You know Inuyasha, if lady Kagome holds this much power over you, you really shouldn't make her mad." Miroku pointed out.  
  
All he got in reply was a grunt... and what sounded like a string of cusses, all directed at a certain perverted monk.  
  
"Inuyasha, I sense a jewel shard!"  
  
Everyone turned around expectantly... Except Miroku who didn't really know about her power yet, and Kashaku who was trying to decide what to name her shiny new quarter.  
  
"It's coming from the east."  
  
"Is it coming this way?" Inuyasha asked putting a hand on Tetsaiga.  
  
"No, it's... It's running away from us... or something. Wait! IT just stopped, if we hurry we should be able to catch up with it pretty soon."  
  
The group nodded and took off in the direction Kagome had pointed too. Kagome and Shippo both jumped on Inuyasha's back and took off, Miroku matched their pace and Mizuna grabbed Kashaku's hand and ran with them, easily matching them.  
  
Soon they caught up with an ugly little man whose face they couldn't quite see. "OY!!! YOU THERE!!! YA SEEN ANY DEMONS AROUND HERE!?!?!"  
  
Kagome winced slightly at Inuyasha's lack of tact.  
  
"N-no! I haven't seen anything!"  
  
Just as Inuyasha was about to continue on, Kagome spotted the shard. "Inuyasha, he has the jewel shard!" She cried, pointing at the painter.  
  
The painter looked shocked, and then kind of insane. He grabbed a scroll from his bag and it began to glow. Then a myriad of inky demons flew forth from the page.  
  
Inuyasha pulled out Tetsaiga and sliced through the demons... Only to be covered in ink. His face turned a nice shade of green and he sunk to his knees. "Erg..."  
  
"Inuyasha!?! Are you ok?" Kagome asked, running over to the fallen Hanyou. Kneeling beside him she tried to figure out what was wrong.  
  
"Ka. Gome... get back!" He shoved her away roughly and jumped into the air, slicing through the next barrage of demons. Landing in a crouch, he put his sleeve over his nose in an attempt to escape from the overpowering scent.  
  
Inuyasha steeled himself for the next attack, but it never came. Looking around he discovers that the painter had run away. "Damn..." that was the last thing he said before passing out from the fumes.  
  
Mizuna walked casually up beside them. Kneeling down, she put her finger into the ink and brought it to her nose. "Ugh... Ink and Blood." She wrinkled her nose in distaste and pitied Inuyasha for being covered in it. No wonder he had blacked out.  
  
The water demoness put both of her hands over the unconscious teen and concentrated. Water began to pour out of her hands and onto Inuyasha. She then opened her eyes, only to see that the ink had absorbed the water.  
  
She growled. Closing her eyes again, she stretched out her sense trying to find a source of water. There was one, but it was at least an hours run for her, and that was if she left the others alone. She sighed. Placing her hands together she began to weave an intricate spell. "Water Emanate."  
  
All the water that was in the ink and blood separated itself and floated lazily up, forming a glowing blue sphere in her hands. She then opened her eyes and let her concentration go, allowing the water to fall back onto Inuyasha, effectively washing the blood and ink away.  
  
Kagome, who had been kneeling by his side the entire time, stuck her head anxiously next to his. "Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha jerked up, barely missing colliding heads with Kagome. "Damn painter, when I get my hands on him..." He trailed off, but continued to mutter obscenities under his breath.  
  
Mizuna smiled at the cute couple. Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell over in a dead faint. Luckily, Kashaku had chosen that moment to drop the quarter, which rolled to the water demoness' feet. So, the hyper teen was able to catch Mizuna before she hit the ground, something that she would NOT be pleased about.  
  
"Mi-chan? Miiiiiiiiiii-chaaaaaaaaaaaan! Are you alive? You're not!?! NOOOOO! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU!!! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME ALL ALONE IN THIS CRUEL, CRRUEL WORLD!?!?! COME BACK TO LIFE!!! YOU HAVE TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!!!!!! JUST THINK ABOUT IT!!! I HAVEN'T EVEN FOUND YOU A SUITABLE BOYFRIEND YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" With that done, Kashaku collapsed on her friend sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
"Kashaku... I think that Mizuna just passed out..." Kagome said a weird look on her face.  
  
"Oh. Ok, never mind then." The yellow-eyed girl then lay her friend's head down before skipping off to see if she could find that quarter.  
  
~*~  
  
Kin yawned and rubbed sleep from her eyes before sitting up. "OUCH!!! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!"  
  
The golden haired Kitsune's hand was to her forehead as she glared at the toad-thingy that had been leaning over her when she sat up. And I think we all know how THAT ended. She glared at him, and then she saw the scissors in his hand. The hand that wasn't holding her still-throbbing head flew to her hair. She let out a sigh of relief, there was no hair missing. Looking back at him she intensified her glare 10-fold.  
  
"And just what did you think you were going to do with those scissors?"  
  
Manten looked worried for a second, but figured that she couldn't actually do anything to him. (A/N: Kin: I get to kill him, right? RIGHT!?!) "I am going to cut off your hair to use in a potion."  
  
"You're... going to... Cut off, MY hair... to use it in a... potion? Did I hear that correctly?"  
  
"Yes, I was going to scalp you, but my brother told me not to."  
  
Kin twitched. "Better idea, you hand over the scissors, leave this room, and don't come within a twenty foot radius of me, and I won't brutally murder you. Sound fair?"  
  
"You hold no power of me wench!" Manten said bravely, still under his delusion that Kin couldn't hurt him. Psh!!!  
  
Kin growled and rolled up her sleeve, ready to kill the annoying little toad. That's when Hiten steps into the room in all of his hotness.  
  
"Brother, leave us."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Manten, I shall call on you when I am ready."  
  
"Yes brother." Manten walked out, but not without giving Kin a farewell glare. Which she, of course, returned with double the animosity.  
  
She then turned on his older, and DEFINITELY HOTTER brother. "I'm leaving now. Bye." Her goodbyes being said, she turned sharply, causing her long golden hair to smack him in the face.  
  
But before she could even take a step, an iron hold on her wrist stopped her. "I don't think so."  
  
"Oh really? And what makes you think that you could stop me?" Kin asked, a slight sneer on her face.  
  
Hiten shrugged with a definite smirk. "I beat you the last time we faced off, why should now be any different?"  
  
Kin turned red. "YOU DID NOT BEAT ME!!!"  
  
A casually raised eyebrow now joined his smirk, which had remained firmly in place. "Yes, I believe that I did. Or did you come here of your own accord?"  
  
"I-um... uh... I was um..." Kin stuttered, trying to find a semi-logical reason that he didn't beat her. "I was tired!!!"  
  
Hiten laughed openly at her blatant lie. Shaking his head he tossed her something. "Nice outfit by the way."  
  
With his smirk still firmly in place, he strolled out of the room in his usual cocky manner. Kin frowned at him. 'Nice outfit... Wha?'  
  
Kin looked down at herself. Then looked up in confusion. Then back down. Then up again. "I don't get it..." It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Her clothes had gotten a little... torn up during the battle. Though she was rather surprised that she hadn't noticed sooner.  
  
Her top had been singed by the lightning, though it hadn't affected her directly and so had her pants. She was now wearing short shorts, and a tube top that ended right before her naval. "I don't get it... it's not like I'm naked or something..." 'Though I'm sure that perv would just LOVE that...'  
  
Then it all clicked into place. This was the feudal era... Her t-shirt as it had originally been would have looked sluttish, though her pants were probably acceptable... You know, until they "Magically" turned into shorts that is.  
  
Shaking her head in an effort to stop blushing, she examined the thing that Hiten had thrown to her. It was something made out of white silk. Not being careful in the least, Kin held onto the top of whatever it was and flicked it out, effectively unfolding the item. 'Nice...' In her hands she now held a long white silk kimono. Shrugging, she slipped it on over her clothes, not trusting the fact that the two brothers could be watching her or something equally as perverted.  
  
It was truly a beautiful piece of work... But it could use some adjustments. Flexing her claws, she neatly sliced off both of the sleeves then she ripped two slits up the sides so that she had free movement. "Perfect."  
  
She then walked out of her little room, hoping that Hiten wouldn't like what she had done to the robe.  
  
Sadly, it was not to be, but hey, it irritated his brother. "YOU WENCH!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THAT ROBE!?!"  
  
Kin grinned cheekily at the furious demon. "I modified it. Don't you like it?" She asked, spinning around to give them the whole view, and also to see if that got a rise out of the elder brother.  
  
"Have something against dresses I see." Kin frowned. She wanted anger, not mild amusement!  
  
"Brother, may I cut off her hair now?" Manten asked, ignoring Kin in favor of looking at his brother.  
  
"Since you obviously didn't understand it the first time, let me go over it with you again. You cut off my hair, and I cut off you head. Got it!?!"  
  
And so the argument ensued. Kin always seeming to have the upper hand, but Manten never giving in. Hiten just left them there to go poke a sheep or something. (Sorry, needed to get that out)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
*Readers launch themselves at Leiko*  
  
Leiko: I SWEAR I DIDN'T DO IT!!!!! IT WAS ALL KIKYO'S FAULT!!!  
  
Readers: WE LOVE YOU!!!  
  
Leiko: Oh... Ok, never mind about the sheep thing...  
  
Hiten: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOU SAYING I WENT TO POKE A FRICKIN' SHEEP!?!?!  
  
Kin: SHE CAN SAY YOU POKED A SHEEP IF SHE WANTS TO!!!  
  
Hiten: YOU STAY OUTTA THIS!!!  
  
Kin: MAKE ME!!!  
  
Hiten: I would, BUT WE'RE STILL IN A CLOSET AND I DON'T WANT TO BE IN HERE WITH A CORPSE!!!  
  
Mizuna: Then it's a good thing we didn't lock Kikyo in there with you.  
  
Kikyo: I AM NOT A CORPSE!!!  
  
Mizuna: You died. You still have a body. Said body is a corpse. That body is your body; therefore, you are a corpse.  
  
Kikyo: NO I'M NOT YOU BITCH!!!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Please do not insult my species by dirtying our female's names on your soiled tongue.  
  
Kouga and Inuyasha: Seriously!!!  
  
Kagura: Read and review.  
  
Mizuna: Kagura.  
  
Kagura: Mizuna.  
  
*Both nod at each other in greeting*  
  
Kanna: Mizuna, it is nice to see you again.  
  
Mizuna: I assure you that I feel the same way Kanna, Kagura.  
  
Kashaku: You know them?  
  
Mizuna: We studied at the same charm school.  
  
Kagome: That makes actually makes sense...  
  
Leiko: If you don't review, then I'm going to ask Kagura to send controlled dead people to your house. Now do you REALLY want to have to explain to your parents why there are dead people in your living room? I didn't think so. 


	6. There goes another one

Disclaimer: If at first you don't succeed. Skydiving ISN'T for you.  
  
Group snickers  
  
Hiten: What is this, 'skydiving'?  
  
Leiko snaps fingers so that everyone is in plane  
  
Leiko: It involves planes.  
  
Before Hiten can ask what a plane is... Kin shoves him out of the plane  
  
Kin: That's skydiving.  
  
Hiten flies next to the plane in his usual you're-a-waste-of-my-time-I- don't-even-need-to-use-my-arms-to-beat-you-pose  
  
Kin: Damn...  
  
Kashaku: It's okay Kin-chan, look Hiten's fine!  
  
Kin: I forgot he could fly...  
  
Inuyasha: Sucks doesn't it?  
  
Kin: Yup.  
  
Leiko snaps fingers and everyone is back at the house  
  
Kin: WHAT NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M BACK IN THE CLOSET!!!!!!!!!  
  
Mizuna: Has Sesshoumaru come back with the key yet?  
  
Hiten: Am I still trapped in this Kami forsaken closet?  
  
Mizuna: I don't like to be mocked.  
  
Hiten: Yeah? And whatcha gonna do 'bout it miss-I'm-so-perfect?  
  
Mizuna: This.  
  
Mizuna pulls out spare key, opens door, grabs Hiten's collar and proceeds to beat him into next year  
  
Kin: YOU MEAN YOU HAD THAT KEY THE ENTIRE TIME!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  
  
Mizuna: Of course.  
  
Hiten: Ow...  
  
Kin: WELL THEN WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU LET US OUT BEFORE NOW!?!?!?!?!?!?  
  
Mizuna: You didn't ask.  
  
Kin: I hate you all.  
  
Mizuna came to a few hours later to the sound of battle. Opening her eyes she saw her friends engaged in a battle against shadows. When she became fully conscious her delicate nose picked up the smell of ink and blood.  
  
Pushing herself up into a sitting position, the calculating demoness analyzed the battle. It appeared that they had caught up with the painter from hell. She saw Miroku protecting Kagome while Kashaku attacked the painter. 'Where is Inuyasha? I always knew he was a fool, but a coward? Not likely. He really is too headstrong... Like Kin...' Here her thoughts were manually cut off before she allowed herself to become too emotional.  
  
Mizuna's head snapped to the side when she heard the sound of swords crashing together. Swearing under her breath she threw herself to the side just as Inuyasha slammed into the ground she had previously occupied.  
  
"Watch where you're going." She bit out in a cold voice. She was still weak from using up all of her energy, and a tired Mizuna, is a grumpy Mizuna, which no one wants to see.  
  
"Well you know I can't exactly plan where I'm going to CRASH!!!" Inuyasha shot back between pants.  
  
"Inuyasha. You're battle is with me."  
  
It was then that Mizuna's eyes trained onto his opponent. He was taller than Inuyasha, with silky silver hair, molten gold eyes like Kin's and a handsome white kimono. He resembled Inuyasha enough to be called kin, but not so similar that they could EVER be mistaken for one another.  
  
Mizuna continued to watch their battle, noting the stranger's style was nothing like Inuyasha's reckless swinging. In fact it was the opposite, every move he made flowed into the next, blocking, attacking, it all seemed like an intricate dance.  
  
A few minutes after she had begun watching, she felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. A frown set itself on her face when she couldn't identify where the danger was coming from. 'Nothing... nothing... boulder... CRAP!!!' Usually Mizuna found it beneath her to even curse in her mind, but this occasion warranted it.  
  
A small girl had just run onto the battle scene, followed closely by an unidentifiable toad-thing. 'My Kami! How many Kami-damned toads are there!?!?!?!'  
  
The little girl was wearing a cute little kimono, and had her dark brown down except for a small ponytail on the left side of her head.  
  
Mizuna's eyes took in Inuyasha's attack, the stranger's dodge and how the waves of cutting energy were heading for the girl. One second the blue haired teen watched the attack from the sidelines, the next she was watching it come straight for her.  
  
She crouched down in front of the little girl, facing the five blades of pure light flying at her. Mizuna's hand went to her side and pulled out a silver fan from nowhere, her eyes glowed blue as she snapped the fan open, revealing it's wickedly gleaming edge. Slicing through the attack, it turned into ten strips of deadly power and flew off to the sides of her. Replacing her fan into who-the-hell-knows-where, she turned and faced the little girl.  
  
"WOW!!! YOU'RE REALLY POWERFUL!!! YOU'RE ALMOST AS STRONG AS RIN'S SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!!!" The little girl, Rin gushed happily.  
  
Mizuna decided to ignore the "_almost_" and took her excitement as her answer. She was about to ask the little girl who "Sesshoumaru-sama" was, when she felt something connect with her head.  
  
"Filthy human! I told you not to run away!!!"  
  
Mizuna's head snapped to the side as she surveyed what had hit her. He apparently wasn't addressing the 'filthy human' comment to her, but the fact that some stupid little toad thing hit her on the head just pissed her off.  
  
She brought up one had that was curled into a fist and slammed the little beast off into the forest somewhere.  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama does that too." Rin stated knowingly. "Except he likes to use his foot. Would you use your foot if you were standing? Rin thinks you would. Because Rin knows that if you used your hand while you were standing that you would have to bend over." Here the little girl paused to take a breath and judge the blue-eyed girl's reaction. Her eyes then grew wide. "You know what else? Your face is just like Sesshoumaru-sama's!!! ARE YOU SESSHOUMARU-SAMA'S SISTER!?!?! Because if you were you could be Rin's new mommy! OH!!! Or you could be Rin's new aunt!!!"  
  
Rin didn't wait to see what Mizuna had to say; she began running around singing about having a new aunt. The brown haired girl suddenly realized something and ran off into the forest before Mizuna could stop her.  
  
Shrugging it off, Mizuna faced the battles. Sesshoumaru, or at least who she thought was Sesshoumaru, was now holding the Tetsaiga in one... large, green... scaly hand. She saw that while Inuyasha was losing, he wasn't in need of her immediate help so she turned her attention to Kashaku and Miroku's fight.  
  
Or rather what was left of it, Kashaku had taking away his demonic, Shikon empowered paint... and was now drawing flowers and large bunnies with it. Bunnies that were... attacking Miroku... and beating him over the head with flowers.  
  
"Kashaku..." The redhead's eyes turned and faced the speaker before pouting.  
  
"Awww!!! C'mon Mi-chan! There's just enough paint left to make a duck!!! _PLEASE_!!!"  
  
Mizuna gave her friend a Kashaku-don't-even-ask-me-you-have-to-stop-now look before turning to the sound of footsteps.  
  
Rin ran back to her new aunt and handed her a big bouquet of flowers that the little girl had just picked. "Here you go!!! Rin picked them just for you!"  
  
Mizuna nodded and gave the girl a small smile before taking the proffered flowers. "Thank you Rin-chan. It was very sweet of you."  
  
Rin grinned in response and began dancing around her singing about absolutely nothing. "I love flowers! My new auntie loves flowers! Sesshoumaru-sama likes to kick Jaken! Jaken is an evil pooh-pooh head!"  
  
Mizuna was about to comment on Rin's song when a jet of flames suddenly came at her from the forest. She grabbed the ever-singing Rin and jumped to the side, nimbly avoiding the blast.  
  
Jaken ran out of the forest and continued his onslaught of blasts. "AHAHAHAHA!!!"  
  
"Rin thinks that Jaken has lost it. Rin always knew that he was not fun." Rin nodded happy at her discovery. "Besides! Now that Rin has a new aunt, Rin does not need to be watched by Jaken anymore!!!"  
  
The water demoness finally got annoyed with the toad and pulled out her fan in a calm manner. "Mizu(water) Hansha(reflection)." As she said this, she moved her closed fan in a circle in front of her and Rin. As she moved the fan a glowing blue circle was formed. When she completed the circle, the entire thing glowed blue before disappearing.  
  
"OOOOOHHH!!!! Rin wants to know what her new aunt just did!!! PLEASE TELL RIN!!!"  
  
Mizuna smiled at the energetic child. "I formed a shield. Now the toad's blasts will not reach us. And by the way, my name is Mizuna."  
  
Rin smiled and ran around Mizuna to where she thought the shield was. She then proceeded to pull one eye down and stick out her tongue at Jaken. "Rin doesn't like Jaken anymore! Jaken is a meanie-head and my new auntie doesn't like you either!!!" Here she paused and faced Mizuna again. "Do you Mizuna-obasan?"  
  
"I can't say that I particularly enjoy anything that is as repulsive and stupid as this creature."  
  
"He _IS_ ugly isn't he Mi-chan?" Kashaku said popping up behind the toad and pulling on his cheeks in an effort to... well, actually we have no idea what she was trying to do. Then the staff in his hand caught her eye.  
  
Snatching it up, it blasted fire at a nearby tree, causing her to jump. "COOL!!! I WANT IT!!!" Kashaku turned large pleading, yellow eyes towards Mizuna, who nodded ever so slightly. "YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kashaku then skipped off happily playing with her new toy with Jaken following her and trying to take it back.  
  
Mizuna silently deactivated her shield before turning back to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's battle, only to see it was finished. Well... at any rate the demon lord was walking away from Inuyasha.  
  
"HEY SESSHOUMARU!!! YOU FINALLY REALIZED THAT YOU WERE NO MATCH FOR ME I SEE!!!!" Inuyasha yelled at his half-brother's backside.  
  
Sesshoumaru turned his head back around to face Inuyasha. "What makes you think that you could possibly beat me Inuyasha?" His voice and face gave away nothing, though his eyes showed the slightest bit of mockery as he regarded the Hanyou.  
  
"Have you forgotten who it was that took off your arm!?!"  
  
Sesshoumaru didn't answer immediately, instead he pulled off the lizard demon's arm and tossed it to Kagome, who flinched and caught the arm, only to throw it away screaming "GROSS!!!".  
  
A few of the hell insects went for the jewel shard imbedded in the arm, but Sesshoumaru waved his arm and melted them with his acid. He walked calmly over to the scaly appendage and in one quick motion, removed a shining pink shard from its depths. "You collect these do you not?"  
  
When Kagome nodded dumbly, he strode over to her and stood directly in front of her, raising his hand slowly. Kagome freaked, as did Inuyasha and Miroku, but all he did was hand her his shard.  
  
"But... why?"  
  
Sesshoumaru focused his eyes on Kagome. "My reasons are not of your concern human." He then faced Inuyasha. "Inuyasha. You may keep the Tetsaiga. As unworthy as you are, I have no use for a sword I cannot use."  
  
"Rin. Come here." His business with this group was finished and he was ready to return to his castle.  
  
"Yes milord!!!" Rin saluted him and skipped up to the stoic lord. As Sesshoumaru turned to leave, Rin pulled lightly on the bottom of his kimono and whispered something in his ear.  
  
The Taiyoukai's eyes flashed before turning cold once again. Picking Rin up he balanced her on his hip before he walked over to Mizuna. "Rin wishes for you to accompany us." He then faced away as if she would obey his indirect order.  
  
"I'm afraid that there are more pressing matters to which I must attend." Mizuna said this in a coolly polite manner that was firm, but not disrespectful.  
  
"I don't believe you have a choice in the matter." Before Mizuna could give him a verbal tongue lashing, Rin broke the tension.  
  
"OH PLEASE COME MIZUNA-OBASAN!!!" Rin's eyes welled up tearfully and Mizuna's eyes softened.  
  
The water demoness turned her attention back to Sesshoumaru. "I will come on two conditions."  
  
The demon lord raised one perfectly arched eyebrow at her, partially amused that she defied him and partially annoyed that she would do this. He nodded slightly, silently telling her to continue.  
  
"I request that me and my friends have free passage through your lands." She paused and waited for his reaction, he nodded. "Also, I have business atop Mt. Kaminari(lightning/thunder). I wish to go there before I accompany you."  
  
Sesshoumaru processed her demands, and deeming them acceptable, he agreed. "Granted. Inuyasha, you and your group have permission to pass through my lands without fear of attack."  
  
"Oh? And just how are you going to _arrange_ that huh?" Inuyasha asked huffily(That's a fun word... huffily!)  
  
Sesshoumaru tossed Kagome a small necklace. "That bears my crest. If you are attacked just proffer it and all demons in their right mind will halt their assault."  
  
He then gave a signal to Mizuna that she was to follow him before a cloud formed about his feet and he launched into the air. Leaving Jaken behind because I don't like that stupid toad and Mizuna would kill him the second he talked to her.  
  
Mizuna leapt into the dark night and before gravity pulled her down, water began swirling around her feet, lifting her higher and higher into the air. Soon the two demons became mere dots before they disappeared completely from the group's view.  
  
Earlier that day   
  
"YOU CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I AM GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR TONGUE!!!"  
  
"Why shouldn't I call you that, whore?" Manten pushed his luck a little bit too much and he realized this when Kin launched herself at him, ready to make good on her threat.  
  
Kin was caught in midair by a pair of strong, tan arms. "You shouldn't be mad at my brother. Look at what you are wearing. And are you sure you're not a slut?"  
  
He was rewarded for his words with a punch in the face. "Bastards. Are _ALL_ men bastards!?! Or do I just attract them or something!?!?!" Her last comment was directed to the heavens.  
  
Hiten rose from the ground and slammed her roughly into the nearest tree. "You will stop disrespecting me. At first I must admit that I found it to be rather amusing. But no more."  
  
Kin glared at him defiantly, even as he began cutting off her wind supply. "Let go of me!"  
  
The handsome teen pressed down on her windpipe sharply before releasing her. "This was my warning. You won't get another one."  
  
Kin was scared. She didn't show, nor would she admit it, but she was very afraid. When Hiten looked at her with those eyes, eyes that were usually masked with control... they had glowed with an animalistic hunger that chilled her very soul. He had looked so... serious, so barbaric... so not in control. So not himself. Not only had it scared her, it had made her sad. She had wanted to help, so much that it hurt. And yet, the hunger. The hunger in his eyes scared her, rendering her powerless to help him. To help ease his suffering. She just... couldn't. And she hated herself for it.  
  
It was from her frustration and fear that her next words came from. "You do not control me. I will treat you anyway I damn well please!!!" There. She had proved to herself that she wasn't afraid, or at least that she wouldn't act on that fear.  
  
Hiten turned back to her and smirked evilly, showing that he knew of her fear. "Your instincts are telling you to be afraid. You should heed their warning. And mine." He faced forward again and continued walking down the forest path without looking back.  
  
Eventually they came upon a rather large village. Or town. Whichever you prefer. They had accidentally ditched Manten with they're fast pace and so it was just the deadly elder brother and the golden angel.  
  
Before they had entered the town, Kin had reverted to her human disguise so as not to attract attention. Hiten had raised an eyebrow at this, but had yet to comment.  
  
Hiten strode through the town as if he owned it, and Kin had to admire his confidence... as annoying as it sometimes was. After a few minutes of wading through the bustling crowds, well... you really couldn't call it wading because everyone was giving the ethereal couple a nice wide birth, they reached a small clothing shop.  
  
Kin faced Hiten to ask what they were doing there, only to find that he was busy flirting with a group of giggling airheads. "AHEM!!!" She cleared her throat loudly trying to attract his attention.  
  
He glared at her half-heartedly and tossed her a bag full of gold coins. "Go buy yourself some decent clothes."  
  
Kin glared dag-er-swords at him, her eyes promising him a thousand deaths. Not that she was jealous. She just thought he could do better, most likely another demon. Like herself. She then slammed her head into a bench she picked up, effectively silencing her thoughts as well as breaking someone else's property with her forehead.  
  
Ignoring the looks she was receiving from her seemingly unprovoked assault on the piece of furniture, the golden-eyed demoness-disguised-human went into the shop to get clothes. Not because Hiten told her to, but because she was tired of being stared at for her "foreign" clothing.  
  
Going into the small shop, Kin was immediately bombarded by an old lady and her young assistant.  
  
After being measured, having her hair and eyes gushed over, her figure complimented and having her clothes criticized, Kin was DEFINATLEY ready to leave.  
  
About an hour after she entered the shop, the lightning Kitsune left it with her arms full of kimonos, Hakamas, Yukitas, fighting Gis and many other random items of clothing.  
  
Since she was tired of being stared at, she left the shop wearing one of her new outfits. Figuring that she wouldn't need to fight, she chose to wear a kimono. The Japanese style dress complimented her figure without revealing too much. It was emerald green with a gold obi and gold embroidered leaves.  
  
Stepping out the door, her sharp eyes searched through the crowds for her companion and found him flirting with a different group of girls. Forgetting his previous warning(an hour of dealing with two overly energetic seamstresses will do that to you) she walked directly up to him grabbed his ear and dragged him away from the group of girls.  
  
Amazingly enough, Hiten didn't kill her, attempt to kill her or even threaten to kill her. Instead he allowed her to drag him out of the town behind her, admiring the view the entire way.  
  
Leiko: Okay, first things first. This is not a Mizuna/Sesshoumaru fic. Fluffy is flying solo in this fic 'cause Kin is taken by Hiten, and Sess- chan is her bishi.  
  
Kin: Yup. I'll share some of my other bishi... But... SESSHOUMARU IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Mizuna: Well aren't we little-miss-possessive.  
  
Kin: YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!  
  
Kashaku: Aw... I wasn't in this one a lot...  
  
Leiko: I know, just wait! When Kouga kidnaps you it's going to focus mainly on you.  
  
Kashaku hadn't waited for the answer and completely missed that because she was busy dancing around  
  
Hiten: Finally! I got a backbone!!! And a nice view of Kin's butt!  
  
Kin: WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  
  
Hiten: Read and Review. Or else.  
  
Leiko: You'd better do what he says... he's a crazy psycho!!!  
  
Kin: I'll vouch for that!!!! 


	7. Meetings and the like

Disclaimer: This is what, the 6th chapter? And you STILL think I own Inuyasha? Are you stupid or something!?!  
  
Leiko: Gomen about not updating sooner... my power's been out for the past six days... god it SUCKS without air conditioning!!!  
  
Mizuna: I'm sure.  
  
Kin: Start the fic.  
  
Kashaku: I like Cheetos.  
  
Kin: Start it...  
  
Kashaku begins dancing around the fire tribally  
  
Mizuna: Kashaku, get away from the fire pit.  
  
Kin: Start it!  
  
Kashaku: Do I have to?  
  
Kin: ...  
  
Mizuna: Yes.  
  
Kin: gr...  
  
Leiko: Lalalala...  
  
Kin: NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Leiko: Eep...  
  
"Great. We lost another member... two more and I'M GOING TO BE STUCK ALL ALONE WITH INUYASHA!!!!! WHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Shippo began sobbing at the thought and launched himself into Kagome's protective arms.  
  
"Sh... It's okay Shippo. Inuyasha isn't going to let anything happen to me..." Shippo's sobs decreased until he was just shuddering every once in a while.  
  
He pulled himself together, and in one jump, smacked Inuyasha on the head, did a flip and landed in front of him. "You better not let anything happen to Kagome, Inuyasha!" 'I don't think that I can take losing another mommy...'  
  
"I AM NOT GOING TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO KAGOME! AND IF YOU HIT ME AGAIN I AM GOING TO-"  
  
"Osawari."  
  
SLAM. "Bitch..."  
  
"I know you dog demons like to mark your territory, but do you think you could ask me before you label me."  
  
This made Inuyasha's head snap up. "What the hell are you talking about!?!"  
  
Kagome eyed him coolly. "You called me a 'bitch' and 'bitches' are female dogs, meaning that you are obviously implying something..."  
  
Inuyasha turned a very interesting shade of burgundy at the thought. "I'M NOT IMPLYING ANYTHING WENCH!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
The raven-haired Miko disregarded the 'wench' comment and shrugged slightly before turning back to Shippo and Kashaku.  
  
While the three of them played tag, Inuyasha sulked in the tallest tree in the area, muttering about "Crazy girls from the future," "Me, label her!?! Feh..." and then a few off the track thoughts that he had to slam his head into a tree for. 'She'd make a good mother... I wonder how many pups she wants to have?' ext.  
  
"OH MY GOD!!!!!! INUYASHA! COME QUICK!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
In an instant Inuyasha was by Kagome's side, asking if she was all right.  
  
"Look, there's someone in the river!"  
  
"Oh? Is that all? I thought you were in danger or something..." Crossing his arms, he prepared to jump back into the tree and continue with his sulky/off-track thoughts.  
  
"INUYASHA!!!"  
  
"Whadda ya want me to do about it?"  
  
"I WANT YOU TO." Here Kagome paused and shoved Inuyasha into the river they had camped by, "SAVE HIM!!!!!"  
  
The silver haired Hanyou growled at her, and muttered a few select words under his breath. He then complied with her wishes and grabbed the drowning man, tossing him onto the bank like he weighed nothing, which to Inu, that was a fair assumption.  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha..." She shook off his defiant expression and went to help the man he had pulled out of the river.  
  
An hour or so later the man finally came to. Only to scream in Kagome's face and scramble away yelling about a rouge Miko.  
  
"Oy! What's your problem!?!" Inuyasha shouted, picking the guy up by the collar and glaring at him.  
  
Kagome put a hand on his shoulder and gave him the, Inuyasha-he-wasn't- doing-anything-just-put-him-down-I'm-fine-really look.  
  
(A/N: This is just sad. There is NOTHING on, and so, I have the TV on Barbie: Jammin' in Jamaica. Someone shoot me. Shoot me now...)  
  
The silver-haired Hanyou sighed, and rolling his eyes and dropped the man who promptly scrambled back, trying to put distance between himself and Inuyasha.  
  
Kagome smiled sweetly at him and offered him a hand up. "Don't worry about Inuyasha, he's just a bit over-zealous."  
  
The monk glared at her and batted her hand away. "Get away from me witch!"  
  
Okay, this was starting to get on Kagome's nerves. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE IN MY LIFE!!!!"  
  
He looked taken back and looked at her closely. "You are right, my apologies lady."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "He sure changed tunes fast."  
  
Kagome frowned and flashed him a warning look before turning back to the monk. "Who did you think I was?"  
  
Before the man could answer, Kashaku popped up beside them. "Maybe he thought that you were Kin-chan, like in 3rd grade that one kid thought you were her, and he gave you all of his lunch money and ran, remember?"  
  
Kagome laughed lightly at the memory. She had forgotten her coat that day and Kin had given her one of her spare coats, and with the hood up she had looked just like a slightly shorter version of the golden bully. Kin wasn't really a bully though, she just liked to beat up tough guys for fun. Never anyone smaller than herself though. You know, aside from the threats that she would beat them to the ground if they didn't leave her alone.  
  
The monk looked confused at all of this, but proceeded to tell his story. "And then I awoke to find myself here my lady, I do apologize for the misunderstanding, but the resemblance you bare to the ghost priestess Kikyo is remarkable."  
  
Kagome nodded vaguely before tilting her head to face Inuyasha, waiting to gouge his reaction to the news.  
  
The silver haired teen was staring off blankly into space and without any notice he jumped to his feet and began taking great leaps to where his heart told him his beloved dead girlfriend was.  
  
Kagome's long raven locks danced in the light breeze as her stunning blue eyes glazed over with crystalline tears. 'Of course. Why would he change? He's still in love with her. Why would he fall for a plain ugly looking girl like me when he has her... She died to save him... What have I done? Only gotten in his way... I'm just her reincarnate, I have nothing on her, she's perfect...' That was her line of thought before the more selfish part of her took over. 'She's dead, she didn't really die to save him... nothing of the sort actually... She was weak. They were weak. Their love was weak. Naraku played them for fools and they fell for it...'  
  
She was startled out of her musings by being poked repetitively in the head. Batting her friend's hand away, Kagome took off towards the woods. She moved like a streak of lightning, not giving up any space in which to be caught. Though her other companions tried, they couldn't keep up with her.  
  
She didn't bother to concentrate on where she was going, nor what was in front of her, she let her heart guide her while her mind was on other things. After a few minutes of running, it became clear to her. She had to kill Kikyo. Not because of some stupid rivalry, but because that wasn't the real her.  
  
The real Kikyo had died 50 years ago, even before the wounds had taken her body from the world. Her soul had passed on when she thought that her love had betrayed her, all that was left in her body was her anger and her resentment. That was what killed Inuyasha, and that was what had been brought back to life. Kagome owed it to herself and to her ancestor to kill the shell of the once loved priestess. The real Kikyo would want that.  
  
She had completely stopped paying attention to where she was going in favor of her inner musings and as it turns out, while her heart guided her around trees, it didn't pay much attention to rocks.  
  
Kagome let out a startled half-scream when her foot caught and she found herself falling towards the ground. She the grass with a slight thud and proceeded to roll down the hill, not noticing the tingle that went through her body at one point during her tumble.  
  
She landed with a certain 'grace' she could have done without. She was currently upside down with her legs in the air and her back pressed against a giant tree. She sighed and rolled to her feet, she hated her clumsy moments. Granted they were few and far in between, but it was just so annoying to be walking along one minute and sprawled out on the ground the next!  
  
Rubbing her head she took in her surroundings, ending with the sleeping priestess in the tree. "Is she asleep?" Kagome wondered aloud.  
  
Kikyo seemed to have heard her seeing as how she sat up and her soulless brown eyes viewed her reincarnate in a calculating manner. "I see you made it through my shield. You are more powerful than I thought." Her neutral face then angered. "But you are in my way."  
  
Kagome stared at the dead priestess with a blank face. Before she could ask any of the questions that were running through her mind in that instant, she felt something wrap around her and draw her to the tree. Before Kagome could react she was pinned against said tree with little or no hope of escaping from the soul stealers grip.  
  
"KIKYO WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!?!" Try as she might the young Miko- in-training simply couldn't escape her prison.  
  
The dead Miko ignored her reincarnate and walked around to the other side of the clearing. Seconds later Inuyasha's form burst through the foliage before landing lightly on the soft ground in front of his first love.  
  
Kagome could just see the two of them if she craned her head around. "INUYASHA!!!!" 'What does that moron think he's doing!?!'  
  
"So it was you Kikyo, gathering those dead women's souls?" Inuyasha's eyes were filled with confusion as he looked upon the once great priestess.  
  
"You must find me disgusting Inuyasha, this sham of a body made of dirt and bone, driven only by the hatred of you!" Kikyo's eyes were filled with pain as she listlessly gazed upon. "Fool, you do hate me!"  
  
Kikyo... I-I haven't stopped thinking about you, not even for a single day!" Inuyasha yelled, still oblivious to Kagome's presence.  
  
"Inuyasha..." Her voice was soft as she said this, but her eyes glinted with triumph as she regarded her reincarnate's tearful expression. The lifeless Miko slowly pulled away from Inuyasha's embrace, only to pull him into a kiss.  
  
Kagome's struggles doubled as she saw the Hanyou's eyes roll into the back of his head as he passed out in the dead girl's arms. The ground around the pair had begun to glow with an eerie, fire filled light. She had seriously had enough, first that bitch had trapped her in a stupid trap, then she kissed Inuyasha, and THEN she had the nerve to try and drag him down to hell too!!! "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!! GET OFF HIM NOW!!!"  
  
Kikyo ignored her cries and proceeded to drag the unconscious boy to hell faster. Their souls disappearing as she did so.  
  
Kagome had all but given up hope of saving the Inu Hanyou, tears of anger, betrayal and sadness were pouring down her face as she called out one last time for him to return to her.  
  
Inuyasha's head snapped up when he heard Kagome's anguished scream, letting instincts take over he leapt out of the portal to the underworld and landed by her side. Using his claws to rip through soul stealers he caught the surprised girl in his arms and helped steady her.  
  
"Inuyasha. Does my copy mean more to you than I do?" Her icy voice cut through the cute moment like a knife.  
  
Inuyasha dropped his arms from around Kagome as if burned and they both blushed a deep crimson color at her implication. Kikyo regarded them coldly before disappearing along with her soul stealing demons.  
  
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Kagome regained her senses. "OSAWARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The clearing rang with the sound of her command and many birds shot out of the trees, disturbed from their slumber.  
  
She stomped out of the clearing and past her confused friends who had been pounding on the barrier for the past hour. Her stormy mood continued all the way back to the village and the others wisely decided not to question her.  
  
Sesshoumaru, Rin and Mizuna landed outside a large mansion at the top of mount Kaminari.  
  
"I sense no one here. For your sake this had better not be a trap."  
  
The blue-eyed demoness glared up at him coldly. "I do not waste my time on mindless tricks." She turned back to the large house and proceeded to weave her way through random passages, following the scent of annoyance and anger.  
  
Sesshoumaru had remained outside to watch while Rin picked random flowers only found on top of mountains, much to her content.  
  
Soon Mizuna found herself in a large room that was sparsely decorated. Without moving her eyes inspected the room with great scrutiny. A second later she bent down and scooped up a fallen earring.  
  
The earring was a small gold hoop piece with a dangling gold chain that ended in a small flashing green emerald. Mizuna instantly recognized it as the pair Kashaku had given to her last Christmas.  
  
Pulling a pen and paper out of nowhere, the blue haired girl calmly wrote down a message in her flowing script. She knew that English was one of the only classes that Kin actually paid. Some. Attention in so she chose to write it that way so that the thunder brothers wouldn't be able to decipher what she was writing.  
  
When you decide to escape meet Kagome and the others at Kaede's village. I will be staying at the Western Lord's palace for the time being. When you get back watch Kashaku. You know how she can be.  
  
-Mizuna  
  
When she finished she tucked the note and the earring under the locket Kin had entrusted her with. There was no need for her to keep it, Kin would want it back anyway. She placed all three items on the table by a random vase before leaving the house.  
  
In answer to Sesshoumaru's questioning gaze she nodded and floated into the air, waiting for him to lead her to his castle. The Taiyoukai picked up the awaiting Rin before taking off towards the west.  
  
An hour or so later they finally landed only to be bombarded with a slightly, wait, scratch the slightly crazed toad. "LORD SESSHOUMARU! LORD SESSHOUMARU!!!!!! THE PRINCE OF THE SOUTH HAS ARRIVED EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Calm yourself Jaken... I shall take care of it. Rin, show your new 'aunt' to her quarters. She may have the ones across from your own." Sesshoumaru calmly swept away to greet the visiting lord, leaving the girls, and the stupid little toad thingy to their own devices.  
  
Rin waved at his back happily until he was out of sight. "Mizuna-obasan, may Rin show Rin's new aunt the gardens? Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase!?!" Mizuna shrugged at her request before turning into a human; she was more used to this form and besides, all that pollen going into her sensitive nose was enough to make her inwardly cringe.  
  
"NO YOU STUPID GIRL!!! Lord Sesshoumaru CLEARLY stated that you are to take this wench to her rooms-" He would have continued on, but then the moron realized that the two girls were already walking off.  
  
When he pursued the girls with some deranged Sesshoumaru-loving speech(I am seriously beginning to think that stupid toad has something for fluffy- chan...) Mizuna's solution was to take his staff and test out her golfing skills. As it turns out she was a fair shot with a whole lot of distance.  
  
Rin dragged her new aunt down a winding path that branched off in many places. After a few seemingly, and most likely random turns, they finally made it to the most beautiful gardens in the land.  
  
Before Rin could show Mizuna any of her favorite flowers, a large viper Youkai leapt out of the bushes with a hiss. The still blue-haired girl reacted calmly as she always did and quickly pushed the little girl behind her as she flipped open her fan.  
  
The overall pictures was like a scene out of a movie... Mizuna was crouched down ever so slightly with her right arm out to the side telling Rin to stay behind her while her left hand held her silver bladed fan in front of her. Her dark blue eyes flashed and her lips grew into a challenging smirk as her dark blue hair whipped around her in the harsh wind that had picked up only seconds prier.  
  
"Can I help you with something?" Her entire stance screamed battle, but her tone was light and courteous as if she was asking him if he would care for more tea.  
  
"Why are there humans in this private garden wench?" The snake hissed out, acting as if he owned the place.  
  
"We are here because Lord Sesshoumaru allows us to be, and if you call me wench one more time I will personally cut out your tongue." At first her voice was sarcastic and rather daunting but then it changed to an icy cool tone that only added to her aggressive stance.  
  
The snake threw back his head and laughed at her. "HA! You think that YOU are a match for ME!?!?! Humans are known for their stupidity, but this!!! ESPECIALLY WITH A FAN!!!!!"  
  
Mizuna's eyebrow twitched. Standing from her protective stance she flipped her fan open and closed rapidly out of pure agitation. "Lord Sesshoumaru is this creature of any importance to you?" Her voice was calm, but it had a frosty edge as a warning to her mood.  
  
"Not really, but I'd still prefer it if you didn't try to kill him." A tall young man stepped into view from the shadows. He was only an inch or so shorter than Sesshoumaru but his whole demeanor was much warmer. He had short, rather messy black hair that was tamed by a blood red headband and smoldering eyes that flashed orange then yellow before going back to red making it hard to decipher his true eye color. He had two red streaks on each of his cheeks(OMG I RHYMED SHOOT ME, SHOOT ME NOW!!!!) and one on each of his wrists. Must be a Taiyoukai thing...  
  
His outfit greatly resembled Sesshoumaru's but there were differences. His pants and top were black with red flames licking the edges of his sleeves and pant legs. His armor was also silver and the plating was black as were his boots while his sash was a fiery red. He had one sword hanging from his hip and a larger one strapped across his back. He also had a few daggers scattered about his person for easy access, but no one who wasn't looking for them in exactly the right places would be able to see them.  
  
"I don't 'try' to kill anyone." She said this with absolute confidence. She didn't "Try" to kill anyone, she succeeded. "Now if you will excuse me." She turned her back on all of them and knelt in front of her new charge. "Rin, would you care to show me to my room? I believe that it is going to rain soon."  
  
Rin nodded, sad that she wouldn't get to show her new obasan any of her favorite places. "Okay Mizuna-obasan..."  
  
Mizuna smiled slightly at her pouting expression. "It's okay Rin-chan, the second the rain clears up we can go outside for as long as you like, how does that sound?"  
  
"YAY!!!!!" Rin excitedly jumped into Mizuna's arms and began to tell her all about her favorite places.  
  
"Rin, I think that it would help if I knew where I was going..." Rin nodded obediently and immediately gave her some very confused directions.  
  
Mizuna nodded vaguely before transforming back into her demonic form just as it began pouring rain. Turning around she waved a hand causing all the water that was about to fall on the two Taiyoukai to slide around them as it was doing with her and Rin.  
  
"HEY WHAT ABOUT ME!?!?!?!??!?!" Her now cold eyes focused on the viper Youkai.  
  
"What about you?" Her voice was calm and laced with ice, which was a warning to all not to push it.  
  
He muttered "Bitch" under his breath but unfortunately for him, Mizuna heard it. Narrowing her eyes they flashed from sapphire to icy blue before going back to normal. The rain that was hitting the viper Youkai were now fist-sized balls of hail. Hey, spending all that time with Kin was beginning to rub off on her.  
  
Turning back around she walked towards the castle, following Rin's lingering scent that was only slightly faded do to the water trying fervently to wash it away.  
  
"IT'S RAINING IT'S POURING JAKEN IS BORING! OBASAN KICKED HIS HEAD AND NOW HE'S DEAD AND I HOPE SESSHOUMARU DOESN'T REVIVE HIM IN THE MORNING!!!!!!" Rin happily yelled/sang this song over and over again, and for some inexplicable reason, it never got old.  
  
Kin rolled her eyes but she couldn't prevent a smile from creeping across her face. Slipping on the locket, she snatched up her missing earring and put it back in. "Gee... Thanks for the help Mi-chan." She muttered sarcastically.  
  
Stretching her arms a bit, she wandered out of her room to find Hiten and bother him for some food. She would ask Manten(Who they had found on their way back) but a) he was a moron, b) he wanted to cut off her hair for some insane reason and c) he was an ugly pooh-pooh head. Yes that name was immature, but it fit her mood right now.  
  
Along the way back to the mansion, Kin had eaten a fruit that was filled with sugar. And when she ate too much sugar, she tended to act like Kashaku, except not quite as extreme. The funny thing is, is that when Kashaku eats too much sugar, instead of getting more hyper, which we're pretty sure is impossible, she becomes calm and will just sit there until the sugar wears off.  
  
Pulling a random brush out of nowhere, she began to brush her long luminous hair, partially for something to do, and partially to irritate Manten if she saw him. Pulling a band off of her wrist, she twisted her hair up into a tight bun so that the idiotic toad wouldn't be able to sneak up behind her and cut it off.  
  
"Yo Hiten, ya'll got anything edible..." Her voice trailed off as she stepped into their living room. "Okay... I was actually going for something of the not-human-not-raw variety...."  
  
It was all she could do not to see her breakfast again at the gruesome sight before her. Both Hiten and Manten were eating some fleshy thing that she'd really rather NOT identify. The entire room reeked of a human's death and blood was trickling down from Hiten's mouth and it was smeared all across the stupid toad's face.  
  
Shutting her eyes tightly, she jerked her hand up and covered her mouth, trying to push back down the bile that was rising in her throat. Leaping across the room, over the brothers and their prey, she roughly shoved the door open and darted outside to empty her stomach behind a bush.  
  
Spitting out the remaining taste Kin ran the back of her hand across her mouth before spitting once more. Walking slowly back over to the door she leaned her back against it. "Hey Hiten, I'm going back to that town to get myself some food... I have some money left over from the dresses..."  
  
She stood and blocked out the image of them eating from her mind before walking slowly to the edge of the mountaintop. She heard the door slide open and then closed again before a light breeze hit her cheek.  
  
Turning her head to the side she glanced at Hiten before jumping off the cliff only to stop in mid air with bits of lightning dancing around her feet and keeping her in the air. Throwing another glance at the bored looking Youkai she took off towards the village, looking like a golden streak in the darkness of the night sky.  
  
Kin landed lightly in the forest surrounding the village before morphing into her human form. Grabbing Hiten's hand absently, she led him into the village. The second they stepped into view of others, she dropped his hand and tucked her own inside the sleeves of her kimono while he crossed his arms and glared half-heartedly at the pathetic humans that still swarmed the small town.  
  
Walking towards what seemed to be a restaurant, she was halted by the sound of Hiten's voice. "Geisha house."  
  
"Damn." She muttered, she should really start paying attention. Walking across the street she almost walked into yet another wrong place.  
  
"Bar."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Flower shop."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Bookstore."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Grocery store."  
  
"Dam-wait, no, this is where I meant to go." This time she actually continued into the lit up building and leaving Hiten to lean against the store wall glaring at passersby.(Weird word...)  
  
Kin emerged from the store half an hour later to find Hiten still leaning up against the wall with his face set into a scowl.  
  
Balancing all the bags into one hand she walked over to him and poked him in the arm causing him to fall over. He sat up with a jerk and glared at her growling deep in his throat.  
  
She giggled nervously and took a few steps back. "Um... Sorry Hiten... I didn't think that you were asleep..."  
  
He stood up and dusted himself off while facing away from her. His head shot up as he faced the entrance to the village. Kin did the same, also feeling the strange energy that was headed towards them.  
  
A bull Youkai burst through the gates and headed straight for Hiten in his blind rage. The tall, handsome teen merely raised an eyebrow not showing any fear at all. Holding one hand out in front of him, he awaited the pitiful attack.  
  
As the large bull ran into his hand, he lifted it up and sent the bull flying to the other side of the village. Flying over to its motionless form, he kicked it lightly in the side to see if it was alive.  
  
It didn't move so he shrugged before facing back to Kin. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, he heard it flying through the air at him. His eye twitched as he dodged it and pulling his staff out of no where he brought it down and sliced through the creature, becoming covered in blood in the process.  
  
Dropping to the ground he walked over the bloody corpse, reveling in the crunch of its bones under his booted feet. He ignored the amazed/surprised/horrified looks he was getting from the surrounding humans and strolled calmly over to the disapproving lightning Kitsune.  
  
"We're taking a detour." He continued walking and Kin rolled her eyes before following him.  
  
After a few minutes of fast paced walking, they finally reached their destination. Hiten immediately began to peel off his clothing with no regard for the flustered girl next to him.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?!?!?!" Her face was bright red with embarrassment, not that he could see since she had the decency to face away from him.  
  
"I'm going to take a bath, do you have a problem with it?"  
  
"IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT IN FRONT OF ME, THEN YES I DO!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Hiten laughed. "Like I'd want to do anything with a scrawny girl like you."  
  
Kin whirled around, forgetting about his state of undress while she glared at his face. "I AM NOT SCRAWNY YOU JERK!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
The dark haired teen tilted his head to the side as his heated gaze raked over her body. "You're right, you're not scrawny, you're fat."  
  
Her face was once again red, but this time it was out of pure anger. Launching herself at the offending Youkai, she tackled him, sending the both of them into the hot spring.  
  
Somehow Hiten ended up on top of her in the water, and he gave her an infuriating smirk before allowing her to stand up in the knee-length(For him) water.  
  
Kin glared at him and spit the excess water from the spring into his face. "Jerk."  
  
She shoved him out of her way and stomped out of the water and over to her fallen groceries. Wringing out her hair she gave him one last glare before stomping out of the clearing and sitting behind a tree with her back facing both the tree and the hot spring.  
  
Leiko: Wow... that was long. I should get a medal.  
  
Readers: Or we could not kill you for your late update.  
  
Leiko: That works too...  
  
Kashaku: Pooh... I wasn't in that chapter much either...  
  
Leiko: I KNOW GOMEN KA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not trying to exclude you or anything, I just can't think of much for you to do while you're with Kagome and them, but just wait, I have the cutest scene planned for when you meet Kouga!!!  
  
Kashaku: Okay...  
  
Leiko: Okay then, I have a question before I answer my reviews... Oh crap! I haven't answered ANY of them yet... PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!!! Anyways, my question is, should I keep to the Inuyasha plot line, or should I jumble it up? I know it's my decision and all that crap, but I just want ya'lls opinion, 'cause I don't care.  
  
On to my reviews... hehe, whoops!!! Also, since this will probably be the only chance I get to ever answer so many reviews, I'm going to answer all 25, joy to the world ey?  
  
Chapter One Reviews  
  
Princess of the leather purse- I have no idea if you are even still reading this fic. I'm glad u liked it, and, turkey's are good for clearing up any golem problems, so keep it in mind. - Hiei17- Starry eyed you, you don't want to kill me!(yet anyway) yay u! Kali Desarai- I'm glad ya like it girl, I'm also happy u decided to read it!  
  
Chapter Two Reviews  
  
Fiery Tears- pouts Shut up Ka-chan, I blame my horrible spelling on you!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA TAKE THAT!!!!!! CrimsonSash-What up girl? Also, LEAVE MY AWFUL SPELLING ALONE!!! WHAAAAAAAA!!! Sean Malloy-1- Um... Hi? I can't think of anything to say so... um... I'm glad u liked it! Dew-Drop-Viper- hehe, I know! - Hiei17- Well... actually I think you know the answer by now so... yeah... hehe -   
  
Chapter Three Reviews  
  
Dew-Drop-Viper- You know it!!! - Fiery Tears- Of course it's wonderful, I'm writing it after all, Conceited laughter CrimsonSash-... why must you pick at my horrible spelling skills? Sniff Thymes Mistress- Glad ya like it! - Hiei17- yes, poor Kagome-chan!  
  
Chapter Four Reviews  
  
CrimsonSash-It never is, and it was there 'cause I wanted it to be hehe, I'm evil!!! Happy- I'm glad ya like it, and I updated! As u should be able to tell... Hiei17- No... We don't even do that in the real world haha! -  
  
Chapter Five Reviews  
  
Dew-Drop-Viper- haha! General Stuff-and-Stuff, I LOVE IT!!!!! CrimsonSash- poking sheep is addicting neh? And don't worry, I'm sure they're working on a cure for that! Hehe Fiery Tears- Ryuu-chan is cool, and at the moment I'm sticking to the plot but he's coming up and as I said, I have the cutest meeting scene for u!!! - Inu-yasha'sluver- Haha! And continue I will!!! Hiei17- I feel sorry for him too... hehe!  
  
And finally, Chapter Six Reviews  
  
CrimsonSash- Yeah, I made him drop that semi-sissy attitude. Luv ya Kin- chan, update or I'll hurt you!!! Smiles sweetly Unknown- I'm happy u think my stories are awesome! Hiei17- Man! You review me every time!!! I FEEL SO LOVED!!!!! - Tara- You never laugh? You've obviously never had friends like me, Kin and Kashaku, 'cause we like to keep people laughing, we find it quite amusing when they fall over laughing with purple faces. You should try it sometime. Hehe -  
  
Leiko: Phew! I'm done!!! I hope you guys like my new chapter!!! And seriously, Kin, Kashaku, update or else...  
  
Creepy voice I know where you live...  
  
Leiko: Shut up Naraku!!! That's MY line!!!  
  
Hits Naraku over the head with a large fish borrowed from Kashaku  
  
Leiko: Ahem... I know where you live... Lights turn off and Leiko uses a flashlight to do that creepy face lighting up thing Clarice...? Haha, that's so much fun to do!!!  
  
Kin: yeah, well I know where you live too!!!  
  
Kashaku: YEAH!  
  
Leiko: Yeah, but I updated.  
  
Kin: She's got a point there...  
  
Rin: Rin's new obasan told Rin to tell you to read and review!  
  
Readers: AW!!!  
  
Rin smiles cutely and offers readers flowers  
  
Rin: If you don't review Rin will be very sad...  
  
Sesshoumaru: If you make her cry I'm going to make you cry.  
  
Readers: EEP!!!!!!!! 


	8. Seperate Lives

Note: The following are part of my intricate and hilarious disclaimer. You will laugh and you will like it! I don't care if banned it, so I'm talking to my characters. If you have a problem with it, then I have a problem with you and your brain damage. Thank you for your time, if you do not like my 'disclaimer' coupled with my other notes, then please don't bother reading any of my stories 'cause I just plain don't like you. For all others, I am sorry to burden you, my friend's story was taken off because of this and I was deeply offended because I don't see what's wrong with it. Thank you and I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I'm hungry.

:Leiko shoves angry lawyers out of the door and locks it:

Leiko: DON'T MESS WITH ME TODAY! I DON'T OWN INUYASHA SO GET OFF MY CASE OR I'LL MAKE YOU GET OFF!

:Lawyers put away scary lawyer materials and retreat back to their offices of doom to wait for the next fic:

Leiko: Since no one answered, AND I HATE YOU ALL FOR IT! Gr… I'm just going to say screw it and I'm going to go as out of order as I want. So there:cough: and now, we get to meet Kouga! So yay!

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"ACHOO!" Kagome sniffled slightly, blowing her nose on a tissue she had brought from home. Her cold had gotten worse, but she wanted to keep going so that they didn't lose their next lead.

Coughing loudly, she almost tripped on a root, that is until Inuyasha decided that he had had enough and picked her up. Now she was comfortable situated on Inuyasha's back, half asleep, and just barely awake enough to sense jewel shards should they come her way.

Feeling something tugging on her senses, she muttered that she felt some shards in the general direction of the north. Nodding, Inuyasha barked orders to Kashaku who was currently skipping along happily with Shippo in tow. The redhead nodded in agreement before scooping the small Kitsune up and running alongside the speeding Hanyou.

Seconds later they appeared in a village that was under the attack of wolves. Kashaku, being, well her, bounced up to the wolves and began to pet them, avoiding the snapping teeth. After awhile she got bored of the wolves trying to bite her, and she leapt up onto the roof where Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo sat.

"So… What do we do now?" Inuyasha glanced at Kagome before continuing to survey the wreckage of the city. He could have stopped the wolves easily, they were just animals after all, but there had been no one in the city to protect.

Staring down, he focused his golden glare on a small group of wolves that kept getting larger. They were gathered just outside the hut he was on, and they were all growling at him. So, him being the adorably cute overgrown puppy that he is, he growled back.

Out of nowhere a whirlwind suddenly entered the village, pausing in front of the hut before the winds disappeared leaving a ruggedly handsome boy of around 17.

"Who the hell are you?" Was Inuyasha's tactful way of greeting the newcomer.

"Why the hell should I tell you mutt-face?"

"Because I asked ya! That's why!" And with that last comment, the brawl ensued.

Kagome frowned at Inuyasha, but decided to help him anyway. "Kashaku…" She muttered, coughing slightly. The bouncy redhead turned to face her longtime friend with a smile on her face.

"What is it Kagome-chan? Do you want me to get you something?"

Kagome shook her head before whispering her request in Kashaku's ear. She nodded brightly and cupped her hands around her face, yelling Kagome's warning to Inuyasha. "HEY INUYASHA! THE GUY HAS JEWEL SHARDS IN HIS LEGS AND HIS LEFT ARM!"

The dark haired boy stole a glance at the girl who had yelled, puzzling over how she had known. Dodging another of Inuyasha's punches, he threw one of his own before whistling sharply.

All the surrounding wolves began growling and advanced on Inuyasha. Kouga grinned cockily at him. "See ya later mutt-face!"

The tall demon took off, leaving in a whirlwind that swept past Kagome and surrounded Kashaku. There was a startled yelp, and then the demon leapt from the winds, a surprised redhead thrown over his shoulder as he took off, not noticing the small fox demon that was holding onto his tail, trying not to fall off.

After a few minutes of high speed running, Kouga leapt into the air, and soared over a gaping crevice. But, instead of hearing the scream he had expected from the girl over his shoulder, he received a light snore. Apparently, she had fallen asleep… What an odd girl.

Kashaku yawned widely as she woke up, but since she was still half asleep, she snuggled down on the bed of… uh… soft stuff. She didn't really feel like identifying it at the time, for all she knew it could have been a tree branch.

Upon hearing Shippo scream for help, she cracked one eye open to see what was going on. As it turned out, the little Kitsune was surrounded by a group of hungry looking wolves.

Deciding to drop her oblivious act, and not say, "Can I play with the wolves too!", Kashaku rose and snatched the kit out of harms way, towering about the wolves… though not really because she was only 5'3" after all.

Placing the little Kitsune atop her head, she glared at the wolves… or rather attempted a glare, she had always found it rather impossible to glare at anyone… unless of course they made her really mad, which didn't happen often. Overall, her glare was forced, and it really just looked like she was mildly annoyed. Sighing, she gave up on being intimidating and frowned at Kouga.

"Kouga-chan," she called, ignoring the weird looks she was getting for the affectionate suffix, "Tell them they can't eat poor little Shippo-chan, if nothing else they'd choke on his fluffy tail anyway."

She gave him a bright smile before skipping to the mouth of the cave, 'accidentally' kicking a medium sized rock into the face of some random evilly glaring wolf. Her skipping and happy demeanor didn't even falter when she heard someone, specifically the someone she had hit with the stone, growling at her. Though she did take the time to stick her tongue out at him in a juvenile manner.

As she was facing back to give the mean wolf a better view of her oh-so-maturely-evil action, she ran into a wall. 'Darnit! I hate caves… this ALWAYS happens'

But then she was pleasantly surprised to find that, no, she hadn't run into a wall, she had run into an annoyed looking pack leader. Much better, ne?

She gave him a questioning look, silently prodding him to tell her why he had randomly stepped into her path. And when that didn't work, she tried the more vocal method. "Um… hi?" He looked rather angry, so she thought it best to sound as innocent as possible.

"Where do you think you're going?" His voice was calm enough, but it also kind of sounded like a growl.

"To jump off a cliff?" She responded in a joking tone and she smiled blankly at him.

Before Kouga could comment further, there were yells heard from outside, as well as a piercing screech. Instantly her path was cleared as the wolf prince ran for the entrance, teeth barred and claws extended, ready for whatever awaited him outside.

Bright yellow eyes stared after him with a bit of confusion shinning in their depths. Kashaku, being the curious person that she was, grabbed Shippo by the wrist and ran out after him, ignoring the child's cry to go slower.

Bouncing up behind Kouga, she stared out at the large flock of hideously ugly birds headed their way. "Those things are ugly."

The wolf prince whirled around and faced her with an indescribable look in his blue eyes. "They're why I captured you, I know that you can sense jewel shards and one of those birds has one."

"Well… before we get into that, why do you care if a bird has one? I mean it can't make it much uglier, right?"

"They're killing off my men like flies…" He was going to continue, but it was about then when the birds reached the cliff face.

They swooped in, snapping that the wolf demons, trying to catch them in their gaping maws.

Instantly Kouga went into action, running along the mountain to wherever he was most needed. Kashaku watched all this go on for a moment before a bird saw her standing there and attacked her with some super creepy battle cry.

The redhead froze when she heard the horrendous sound; covering her ears she closed her eyes in mock pain. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI-SAMA SOMEONE PUT THAT COW OUT OF IT'S MISERY!"

Looking around, she saw that everyone was busy, and that the bird… thing… was getting closer and closer to her. Oh well, guess she gets to kill it.

Forming a fireball in one slender hand, she tossed it up and down casually until the bird was only eight feet away from her, then she threw it, instantly frying the bird. But, due to its momentum, it kept coming at her, so she leapt to the side just in time to avoid being crushed by a gigantic turkey dinner.

A quick look around told her that the wolves were losing, and that she should probably help… After all, it simply wouldn't do if her captors could be defeated by a bunch of psycho turkey wannabes, seriously, what would that say about her?

Summoning her scythe out of nowhere, she leapt into the air and made a sweeping motion causing a stream of fire to erupt from it's gleaming edge. The fire arced through the air, slicing through about twenty of the birds, roasting them alive. Due to their momentum, several of the freshly made corpses fell at the wolves' feet, and the wolves all began digging in to the now tender flesh while the wolf demons looked on in surprise.

Kashaku looked around, and seeing that they were sufficiently distracted, she plucked Shippo from atop her head, and promptly tossed him off a cliff. Smiling brightly at the pink balloonish thing that the Kitsune had transformed into, she waved a quick goodbye before telling the child to tell Kagome not to worry, and to drink the cold medicine in the third pocket of her bag… and also something about bears not being good dance partners for walruses, Shippo assumed that she had said something completely different and that it was merely the distance that was making the words sound funny.

Turning around to face the confused demons, she held her weapon behind her back one handed before she relinquished her grip; causing the scythe to fall into the pocket dimension she kept it in. Skipping over to where Kouga was, she stopped directly between him and the person he was talking to, coincidentally, it was the person she had hit with a rock earlier. But this is a coincidence, STOP READING INTO IT!

"Hi Kouga-chan!" Kashaku said happily, beaming up at the handsome pack leader for absolutely no reason whatsoever… you know, other than to make the guy he was talking with mad. No one glared at her without reason and got away with it! Sure, people glared at her all the time, like when she sang obnoxiously in elevators, or when she ducttaped them to the wall of a building, but no one ever glared at her without reason, until now, and she found it to be really irritating.

Kouga studied the girl in front of him carefully. She seemed innocent enough, but looks could be deceiving. "Do you know where the jet of fire came from?" He asked bluntly, not bothering with that pansy footing around the bush crap.

Her yellow eyes sparkled with mischief as she replied in the most innocent voice she could muster. "Not a clue. Because I certainly didn't summon my scythe from a separate dimension in order to stop those turkey-wannabes from screaming bloody cow murder that hurt my ears and was totally creepy."

The blue-eyed wolf remembered someone yelling about putting a cow out of its misery. Raising an eyebrow, he stared down at her, his face telling her that she was being stupid and should fess up.

She inwardly smirked knowing that she had his full attention. Take that Mr. I'm-going-to-glare-at-you-for-no-freaking-reason! On the outside, she just smiled innocently and looked to the side, as if the line of ants was the most interesting thing in the world. Whoa… look at how they circle that rock… and… Ahem, sorry. Back to the story: Then she looked back at him, her smile still as innocent as ever. "Or maybe I did…"

Kouga stared at her. What a weird, weird girl she was, but she was quite powerful… Then he looked away, his gaze sweeping over his pack mates. "Alright men, tomorrow we're going to attack the birds of paradise and wipe them out once and for all."

"Oooh! Can I come!" Kashaku asked cheerfully, hoping that he would let her.

The wolf prince shrugged. "Sure, do whatever you want." He told her over his shoulder, walking back into his cave. Now, had he known Kashaku better, he would realize that saying "do whatever you want" was a very, VERY stupid thing to say to her.

Kashaku bit her lip, and seriously contemplated taking him up on that offer… But, it was just too unfair, he didn't know any better than to tell her such a thing. Besides, he was really cute… and he had a tail… A really fluffy tail… a really fluffy tail that would look good with just a hint of color… and maybe even a dash of glitter… And there go all thoughts of self-restraint on her part.

Smiling brightly, she skipped after him into the den, trying to figure out how exactly she would accomplish her new dream. Then a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she quickly made up the distance between her and the wolf prince. "Hey Kouga," She began, not feeling it necessary to add a suffix to his name, "I'm hungry."

He turned to her and his eyes narrowed in concentration as he decided what to do with his guest. Before he could decide, a woman suddenly popped up behind Kashaku and was examining her hair.

Turning around the fire demoness blinked in surprise before allowing her usual smile to appear. "Hi! I'm Kashaku!" She said brightly, wondering where the woman had come from. Earlier there had been no females in the room… and wait a second, those cave entrances weren't there before… "ACK! RANDOMLY APPEARING ENTRANCE WAYS!" She yelled, jumping behind Kouga and pointing to the newly appeared caves.

Kouga rolled his eyes, but inwardly he had to wonder if this was all an act, she seemed entirely too aware of things to be this oblivious.

The female who had been admiring her hair answered her implied question. "There's a concealing spell on them."

"Mmmkaii!" She answered cheerfully, stepping back around Kouga to hold her hand out to the brown haired woman.

"I'm Hikaru, Kouga's cousin." The woman said, smiling sweetly at Kashaku as she accepted the friendly handshake. "So…" She turned her attention to Kouga, "Is she your mate-to-be?" Her tone was conversational, and on her face was a look of pure innocence to rival Kashaku's own.

Said fire demoness, who had been watching the woman and children exit the smaller caves, suddenly chose that moment to tune back into the conversation. "What was that about a mating bee? I don't get it… why do you care about bees and their personal habits?"

Hikaru blinked in surprise, her blue eyes, so much like Kouga's own, shining in confusion. Then she blinked again, realization dawning on her. "Oh, no, I didn't say 'mating bee' I said mate-_to_-be." She paused here before continuing on, just so that her meaning wasn't misconstrued by the young girl, who appeared to be quite naïve. "I was just asking my dear cousin if you and he were together."

Now it was Kashaku's turn to blink. "Together doing what?" She asked, not really sure if the wolf demoness meant together together, or like, together as in they walked back into the cave together… or something… she wasn't really sure what other together the woman could mean, but she didn't want to say no and get mauled by killer whales or something.

The older woman sweatdropped, not really wanting to explain the way things worked between a male and a female. "Uh…" She stalled, searching her mind for a believable excuse to make her exit. "I believe that my mate's calling me." She said hastily, walking quickly over to a dark haired male.

Throwing her arms around him, she kissed him lightly on the lips before pouting at his questioning gaze. "Hikaru, what did you do this time?" The male demon asked, his dark green eyes dancing with mirth.

Kashaku listened to the couples' banter and smiled wistfully at them. How she longed for her sappy yaoi anime shows… But, there was time for that later, for now, she was hungry, and by Kami-sama she was going to be fed! Turning around to face Kouga, she narrowed her eyes at him and poked his stomach. "I'm still hungry." She pointed out. But honestly, she couldn't help it, she hadn't had lunch and it was almost suppertime, and she didn't usually skip meals and it was making her quite cranky.

He stared down at her, an odd look in his eyes that Kashaku wasn't sure she liked… Oh wait, that was the firelight reflecting off his eyes, crisis averted. Glaring up at him, she grabbed his shoulders and repositioned him so that the creepy glint wasn't there anymore, then she smiled up at him brightly, deciding not to explain her completely crazed behavior.

Kouga flashed her a sweet grin before throwing his arm around her shoulders. "I like that idea. I'm gonna make you my woman!" He proclaimed proudly, smiling down at her.

Kashaku blinked and cocked her head to the side before reciting a long and dreary speech about how a person could not be owned, that they belonged only to themselves, and that you couldn't claim someone as property because it wasn't morally ethical. During her rant, her voice never changed from a blasé monotone as though repeating it from memory.

Then she blinked again, and continued look off the side before speaking her thoughts aloud. "That's what Mi-chan says to me every time I want to bring home a gay man to make me pretty clothes and set up with other gay men…" She said, a sad note entering her voice as she thought of all the wonderful clothes, and taped moments she could have had.

Kouga focused on her words, making sure to listen to his mate-to-be, but then he chose to ignore her argument, and instead called his cousin's mate over to them. "Shen Li, ready the men, we're starting the hunt."

Snapping out of her odd fantasy of skipping through flowers with a gay couple and some ducks, Kashaku faced Kouga. "Oooh, what're we hunting?" She inquired curiously.

The wolf prince turned to her and laughed slightly before kissing her on the forehead. "You don't have to hunt anymore, I'll take care of that for you from now on." He explained to her proudly.

Her yellow eyes narrowed, and Kouga awaited whatever angry words would come out of her, though he had absolutely no idea what could have caused her to be mad. Then, randomly she reached up and plucked a random piece of dirt from his shoulder before she smiled at him again. "Okay!" she said brightly, honestly not caring about his rather chauvinistic comment, he hadn't meant it that way, and even if he had, it was perfectly acceptable in these times. Plus, she didn't really care much about hunting; it was way easier to steal food from random villagers/passersby.

Now that she was on the track of random villagers… "Hey Kouga, why were you attacking that human village?"

His eyes darkened in anger, though she knew it wasn't directed at her. Nodding at his fellow wolves, he motioned that he would be back in a moment to lead the hunt before he lead Kashaku out of the main cave and through a hallway cave (A/N: so it sounds dumb, bite me. Unless you are a vampire, in which case disregard the insult and just sod off.). After a few moments of walking, he took her hand and drew her into a fairly large cave that contained several young wolf demons, all in bandages.

"Are they going to be okay?" She asked quietly, looking at the children, the oldest of which couldn't have been older then eight. She wasn't a very vengeful person, but attacking small children was just messed up in her opinion, but Kouga really didn't have to be so violent… wait a second… what the hell did he even do to the villagers, she certainly hadn't seen any remains there… "Wait a second! What did you even do to those villagers?"

He glared at her slightly before turning his head away and staring at the wall. "We just ran them out of our territory… they deserved a hell of a lot more, but _we_ don't attack children." He stated venomously, obviously still quite pissed off at the villagers, but then, he had every right to be.

She watched him closely and placed her hand on his arm, smiling up at him kindly. "Aw, it's okay Kouga-chan! You'll just to have to take comfort in the fact that no one in the village will be able to sleep for weeks, and every time they hear a wolf howl they'll soil themselves!"

He looked down at her swiftly and began laughing at her words. Shaking his head he nodded to the old female healer that was in charge of the children, then he walked back to the main den, bringing Kashaku along with him.

"Hikaru, show Kashaku around, we'll return soon." Handing the girl off to his cousin, he appointed two male wolves to keep guard, then he and the rest of the wolf demons leapt out through the illusion, which would look pretty damn odd to someone on the outside.

And so began the tale of the sun and the moon, but that's totally besides the point. Back to the subject: And so began Kashaku's life with the wolf demons began, and soon we shall begin Kashaku's plot of the sparkly pink tale. But I'm tired, my friends want the chapter, and my rewires already want to kill me, so I'll save it and other kawaii moments for the next chapter.

-:-

"PUT THEM ON!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"DO IT!"

"MAKE ME!"

"NO WAY!"

"HA! I WIN!"

"FINE! JUST PUT YOUR GODDAMN PANTS ON!"

"I DON'T WANT TO!"

"YOU HAVE TO!"

"WHY!"

Her back still facing the naked demon, Kin growled in frustration. "BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT DECENT!"

Hiten smirks and stared at the back of the blonde's head. "I'm more than decent."

Usually, this sentence would be taken with a bunch of giggles, or whatever mindless airheads do. Sadly, Kin is most definitely not a mindless airhead. "YOU PERVERT! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE JUST PUT YOUR PANTS ON!"

Smirking, the dripping male stepped closer to her, and bent his head down to whisper in her ear. "But there's so much more I could do without them…"

Kin's ear twitched backwards to hear him before it jerked back foreword, her body becoming rigid as heat rose into her face coloring it a nice crimson. Whirling around and slapping the offending demon on the cheek, she completely forgot why she had been turned around.

"PERVERT!" Seeing Hiten's rather amused face, her glare intensified before it grew shocked. Stealing a glance down, Kin "eep"ed and turned back around, her face coloring shades darker out of pure embarrassment.

Bending down stiffly, she grabbed a pair of clean pants from the grassy ground and held them over her shoulder. "Hiten, just take the goddamn pants."

Hiten, having had his fun, accepted them with an amused smirk still in place. "You really should give up your human notions of modesty. It would be easier if I just air dried."

"No, it would be easier if you would just wear the damn pants!"

Hiten shrugged slightly, crossing his arms over his still bare chest. "Done."

"Whoopdee freakin' doo. And it only took you an hour… I'm so proud." An air of annoyance easily masked Kin's embarrassment, though the annoyance was also genuine. "Now let's get going."

Hiten, deciding he'd made it to easy for her, chose to be as annoying as possible. Though, doing so in a dignified, bloodthirsty, superfine demon way (of course). "Aren't you going to take a bath?"

"No. Reason 1) you're a perverted bastard. 2) I wasn't the one covered in blood. And 3) I don't have my bathing supplies here anyway… actually; I don't even HAVE any bathing supplies at your house."

"What does number 1 have to do with anything, you smell, and can't you just use the soap herbs that are surrounding the spring?"

"Number one is crucial because I don't need a perverted bastard watching me while I bathe, I do not, and they smell funny."

"Why would I want to watch such a scrawny girl bathe? Yes, you do smell, and they smell like soap."

"I'M NOT A SCRAWNY GIRL!"

"So you want me to watch you bathe?"

"I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE A BATH!"

"But if you were I could watch?"

"NO!"

Hiten gives her a rather creepy smile before nodding at... well, nothing. Kin glares in return before smacking him on the back of the head. "STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! IT'S CREEPY!"

The thunder brother stared at her for a moment more, a critical look taking the place of the creepy one. Taking a step foreword his arm swept out and snatched something from around the lightning Kitsune's neck. Holding it up to the sun, the golden chain sparkled and the locket itself shone to it's full potential.

Turning his body deftly, he avoided the wild blow Kin had made to get the necklace back. "What's this?"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! NOW GIVE IT BACK!" Kin lunged at the boy again, her claws extended, lightening crackling around her aura.

Hiten growled at her violent act and rewarded her by slamming her against a tree, his hand wrapped firmly around her throat. "What is it?"

Kin glared at the demon heatedly. "It's a locket my father gave me before he disappeared. Now give it back you MPD jerk!"

Hiten held their position for a moment before he stepped back and allowed her to breathe. "Don't defy me again."

"Whatever… damn bipolar psycho…" Frowning, she glared up at the still serious demon through a curtain of silken gold. Reaching out a hand, she snatched the locket that he had been holding, suspended in a light grasp. Bringing the locket to her chest, she glared at him, daring him to try and take it again.

"Let's go. I'm bored." While he said this, Hiten turned around on his heel, pushing off the ground and soaring back to his home, not waiting for her to follow, knowing that she would.

"Damn bastard…" Kin glared at his fading figure. Sighing, she too took to the air, streaking after her captor, like a bolt of lightning.

She landed a few seconds later with Hiten nowhere in sight. Twirling a piece of her hair idly, she walked over to the front door, feeling decidedly… bored. Sliding the shoji door open, she suddenly found herself being tackled by a fat toad thing with scissors.

"BWAHAHAHA!" Manten crowed, reaching for her hair.

"ACK! GET OFFA ME YOU PERVERT!" Kicking the annoying hair-obsessed demon over her head, she used her momentum to flip herself over into crouching position before she stood up and faced Manten, fire burning in her eyes. "I. Am. Going. To. KILL YOU!"

Running at the surprised demon, she grabbed his shirt, lifted him up, and hurled him back through the door of the house before storming in after him. Once she got inside, nothing was safe, everything she could get her hands on was picked up and broken over Manten's head… He passed out sometime after the couch, but before the chimney.

After about five minutes of repetitive thumping noises, Hiten got creeped out and decided to see what the fuck was going on in his home. Storming into the room, he found his hostage, beating the crap out of his brother with a vast array of miscellaneous objects.

Rolling his eyes he walked over to them and wrapped his arms around Kin, effectively restraining her. "What do you think you're doing?" he ground out, more than mildly annoyed at being disturbed while he was TRYING to sleep.

The angry Kitsune twisted slightly in his grasp so she could look him in the eyes while she glared evilly. "I am trying to kill your brother."

Hiten rolled his eyes again. "Why?" He questioned in an annoyed/tired voice.

"Because he JUMPED ME when I came in!" Here she turned back around and lunged at Manten, her desire to kill him coming back tenfold. But luckily for the unconscious demon, Hiten still had her in his grasp so she couldn't do more than flail her arms in an attempt to reach him.

"You can't kill him." Hiten stated coldly.

"Sure I can! Are you calling me weak!"

Now his headache was getting even worse… "Would you just shut up?" he mumbled, dropping his head onto her shoulder. Then he forced himself back onto his seat, releasing her from his grasp. "Okay… I'm going back to sleep, don't kill my brother, and shut the hell up because if I have to get up again I'm going to have to kill you both." Then he walked back to his room, fell onto his futon, and then into dream world.

Kin blinked, staring at the door Hiten had just left through before she turned her contemplative gaze to the bruised and battered body that littered the floor. Well, he was already unconscious without hope getting up without great pain, so he could be allowed to live… for now. Then she looked around the room and bit her lip. Splintered and broken objects littered the floor, and it would be virtually impossible to traverse the room without getting your feet torn to shreds. Perhaps she should clean it up… Nah, why bother?

After all, she could fly, so she had absolutely not problem floating out of the room without a second thought. Out of sheer laziness, she continued floating down the halls until she reached the kitchen. Seeing that it was empty, as were her arms, she slapped a hand to her forehead and muttered a string of curses ranging from Japanese to Spanish continuing on until she ran out of languages she knew curses in.

Running out of the kitchen, she sped past Hiten's room, through the living room-luckily running so fast that her feet barely even touched the ground-and out the door before leaping off the cliff and blazing through the sky. Landing in the hot spring clearing, she suddenly found herself pressed up against a tree with someone's arm cutting off her air supply. Well looky, if it isn't our favorite bloodthirsty thunder demon!

Glaring at him, she used all of her strength to push him back a few feet. "Stop doing that!" She yelled, more than mildly annoyed that this was the second time that day that her back had collided with a tree.

His eyes were narrowed and he looked really angry, which kind of surprised her because she hadn't seen him genuinely angry, borderline psychotic, yes, but apparently he hadn't been truly angry until now. "Who said you could leave?" His voice was deceptively calm, and she barely managed to repress the shudder that threatened to run through her body.

Blushing slightly, she shot a glance at the abandoned grocery bags before turning her head in the other direction, not really wanting to answer his question, nor the meaning behind it.

Hiten followed her furtive glance before nodding slightly, accepting her excuse. Crossing his arms, he watched her silently, making it clear that he planed to stay as long as she did.

Seeing that he wasn't leaving without her, Kin walked over to the bags and scooped them up before returning Hiten's gaze. Floating up slowly, she watched him for any sign of reaction before she began flying back towards the mansion, aware that he was flying right behind her watching her every move in what she could only assume was a suspicious manner.

-:-

The silence of the great hall was broken only by the sound chewing coming from both Rin and the viper Youkai. The other three members of the hall were perfectly silent as they ate.

"Rin, do not eat so quickly, you will give yourself a stomachache." Rin nodded brightly at Mizuna's order and slowed down to a more reasonable pace.

"Send that human away, it is ruining my appetite."

Before Sesshoumaru could open his mouth, or kill the Youkai, or do anything else that might potentially damage their carefully constructed lie, Mizuna spoke. "Shut up you worthless piece of filth, if anything it is you who is ruining everyone's appetite. The concept is called 'chewing' it comes naturally to those who are not mentally incompetent. Rin is not an 'it' that would be you, and if you speak out against my charge one more time I shall not hesitate to eradicate you." She looked completely serious, from her slightly angry face, and her flashing sapphire eyes. Not even the bravest of Youkai would mess with her tone of voice, especially not when she was holding a very sharp steak knife in a white knuckled grip.

In an instance of pathetic fallacy, the rain intensified and lightning cracked casting her alabaster face into shadow so that only the icy glare of her eyes could be seen.

"Wow, Mizuna-obasan you look like Sesshoumaru-sama whenever he sees that guy with the weird baboon pelt!" Rin commented brightly.

Mizuna, forgetting her anger in a moment of actual shock, turned to the young girl. "A baboon pelt…?" She inquired with an incredulous air, seriously though, what kind of nut job would wear a baboon pelt…?

Rin nodded as she munched on a slice of bread. Swallowing, she restated her comment. "Uh-huh, he's really scary, and he always says 'kukuku', and there are these weird hornet things that follow him around!" During her imitation, she scrunched up her nose and tried her hardest to get it just right.

The stoic demoness couldn't help it, she laughed. The silvery sound reverberated throughout the otherwise silent room.

"And when did you see this baboon pelted man with Sesshoumaru?" The Prince of the South inquired mildly, wondering what exactly the little girl's real connection to the demon lord was.

Rin put a finger to her chin and tilted her head in consideration. "Well… there was that one time right before Sesshoumaru-sama faced this one guy that kind of looked like him, and Mizuna-obasan saved Rin from these light thingies, oh, and then Jaken went crazy and Rin's obasan knocked him into the forest, but then he came back, but then obasan took his staff and hit him with it and he hasn't come back yet." Overall, Rin's analogy made it seem like the visiting monarch had asked about Jaken's history of run-ins with Mizuna for the day.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…" The Southern lord muttered, somehow managing to sound more reflective than condescending. He looked between Mizuna and Sesshoumaru and back again with a contemplative look in his eyes.

Giving Mizuna a lazy half smile, he gestured to the large window behind her. "It's stopped raining."

She nodded slightly before setting her silverware down. "If that is indeed the case, then I have a promise to keep. Rin, are you finished eating?"

"Yes Mizuna-obasan!" The little girl said dutifully as she stood up and grabbed the older woman's hand. Leading her over to Sesshoumaru's chair, she bowed to him cutely before asking to be excused, though she had already gotten up.

He nodded at her before shooting her new keeper a veiled look that simply said to watch her, no threat whatsoever, unless of course you consider a painful death by Chinese water torture a threat. Mizuna nodded to him, though to the guests it seemed as if she was thanking him for supper.

Leading the cheerful little girl out of the room, Mizuna paused at the door. "If any of you are planning on a trip outside, I would recommend that it be within this half hour interval. Once the rain starts again it will be of hurricane proportions." She advised in a soft voice. Then she left the room, Rin at her heels.

Then the snake Youkai rose, and followed them, an angry look on his face, leaving Sesshoumaru and Ryuu alone. "So Sesshoumaru… nice girlfriend you've got there."

"Do not speak of matters-"

"Of which I know nothing, yeah, yeah. We've known each other since we were kids Sesshoumaru, and you know very well that I'm not speaking about matters, I am simply asking in a tactful manner whether or not she is available. So stop being a high and mighty asshole and answer the question." Ryuu stated calmly, leaning back in his chair as he watched his longtime friend.

Sesshoumaru smirked and shook his head. "She's not taken to the extent of my knowledge."

"Which we all know is infinite." Ryuu said sarcastically, returning his smirk. "Where's she from, why is she visiting, and other pointless questions that I demand you answer."

The Western Lord shrugged, before motioning at the door she had left through. "Go ask her yourself…"

His friend stared at him for a second, in a decidedly sulky manner before he sighed in frustration. "You're really going to make me ask her aren't you?"

The silver haired Inu Youkai smirked once again and inclined his head slightly, silently agreeing with his friend's accusation.

Ryuu rolled his eyes and heaved himself out of the chair as if it was the most challenging thing he had ever had to do. "Now look what you've made me do… I can't believe I had to get up."

Sesshoumaru smirked at him once again. "Damn lazy cat." He pointed out calmly.

"Fucking hyper dog." The Southern prince countered smoothly. They had been insulting each other like that since they were mere children.

Sesshoumaru hadn't always been so cold; he was actually a very playful child… if not a bit too serious at times. But the man just had family issues coming out his ass. Ryuu had always thought his hatred of Inuyasha was warranted, it was taken a bit to far sometimes, but he could relate. He himself hated his family with an unparalleled passion, but unluckily for him, they were both alive, and living with him… Stupid freeloading leeches.

Shaking his head to rid it of its less-than-happy thoughts, he waved his goodbye to Sesshoumaru before leaving the room. Walking down the halls, he noticed that his second-in-command's scent just 'randomly' happened to be going the same exact direction as the person he was looking for. My, how interesting.

-:-

Rin skipped happily along the dark path, humming a mismatched tune that had just randomly come into her mind. Suddenly she stopped and turned to Mizuna and grabbed her hand before pointing to a small bush with delicate white flowers. "Rin likes this plant! But Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't… Do you like it Rin's obasan?"

Mizuna smiled at the little girl before glancing back at the small bush. "That is a gardenia bush Rin, it's flowers are quite fragrant, perhaps a bit too much so for a demon with a keen sense of smell such as Lord Sesshoumaru."

Rin nodded and stared at the flower bush for a moment longer, memorizing its name, then she continued on down the path, dragging Mizuna along with her.

Twenty minutes of being followed by the stupid snake Youkai later, they walked out of the garden, through about two feet of trees, and arrived in a clearing with a four foot waterfall emptying itself into a small, rock-bordered pool.

"This is Rin's favorite place in the _whole_ garden!" And Mizuna could see why, the green grass looked quite comfortable, and just a few trees away was a large field full of wild flowers-making this spot absolutely ideal for making flower chains.

"Alright Rin, it is time to go in now, it's going to begin raining in a few minutes."

"There's no hurry, you won't even feel the rain when I'm done with you!" Mizuna rolled her eyes before stepping around Rin and facing the Snake Youkai. Canceling the spell that made her human, she reverted to her demon form.

Bringing up one pale hand, she cracked her knuckles and gave him a chilling smile. "That has got to be the stupidest death threat I've yet to encounter." She pointed out coolly, knowing that it would anger the demon into doing something stupid, not that challenging her had been smart in the first place.

Lightning cracked through the heavens, illuminating the clearing before torrents of rain being pouring down, soaking the earth in an instant. Rin squeaked when this happened, but the water gently slid around her as it did the water demoness.

Mizuna gave the demon a calculating look before snapping open her pair of bladed fans. Throwing one up into the air, it sliced through the rain before hovering in midair, creating a barrier around the clearing that the rain disappeared into. Then she tossed Rin her silver charm bracelet. "Rin, take that and go to your room, I'll join you shortly."

Sliding down into a defensive position, Mizuna turned her attention to her broadsword bearing opponent. "Let's get this party started, shall we?"

The snake Youkai ran at her, swinging his sword down with brutal force. But she was too quick for him, twirling gracefully out of the attack's way, she then leapt backwards, knowing that the sheer force would destroy that part of the ground.

She really hadn't wanted to use her special attack because it was quite painful, but she knew that, though she could probably kill the demon on her own, it would be a long and arduous task, one that the coming hurricane wouldn't allow for. Her power would keep the rain at bay, but not the gale force winds. A water barrier would do the trick, but it would also seal off air and take up more of her concentration than could be spared were she to fight the demon.

As she looked at the angry demon, pity flashed through her eyes. "I am allowing you one chance. You can either admit defeat, or you can wait until this hurricane is over… The other option is quite painful, and a measure I would not choose to resort too."

The demon hissed at her and charged, using the exact same attack… Okay, apparently she had overestimated him. Then he swung the sword around, and only her quick reflexes saved her from having her arm severed off.

Wincing slightly, she looked at the shallow cut, it wasn't life threatening, but it hurt and it greatly annoyed her that she hadn't seen that coming. Feeling the gentle tug on her psyche, she knew that she had absorbed enough power to use her attack. Leaping high into the air, she completely avoided the demon's next attack while snatching her second fan out of the air.

As a result, the rain instantly soaked them both to the bone. Keeping a wary eye on him, Mizuna bowed slightly to him, as any honorable opponent would before a match. Slipping one fan back into her obi, she held the one that had previously been absorbing the rain up, covering half of her face so that only her eyes were visible. She was standing upright and more or less at ease, not bothering to go into fighting stance, as it really wasn't necessary for her next attack.

Her hands held the fan tightly as her eyes glowed unnaturally bright. Then she spoke in a long dead tongue, a flowing language that was reminiscent of water. As the silvery words fell from her lips, her fan began to shine a faint blue, becoming stronger and stronger as the power began to collect in the air. Then, that same power began to drift to where the snake Youkai stood, his eyes widened in terror.

It slowly coalesced around his form, seeping into his skin. Then, the glow was gone, the power had immersed itself inside him, it flowed through his blood stream and then the last word of the ancient spell was spoken.

The demon fell to the ground, writhing in agony as all the water in his body was drawn out of him, leaking through his pores before traveling upwards and forming a slowly growing sphere of water. Though it only lasted for a few seconds, it seemed as if it was prolonged for hours. The last thing the Youkai saw before shriveling into dust, was a pair of glowing blue eyes that, for a mere instant, flashed with pity.

Mizuna stepped foreword shakily before deciding that moving was not necessarily a good thing. Pressing her hand to her forehead, she steadied herself and drew together what remained of her strength for the trip back to the castle, remaining completely and totally oblivious to the tall figure that had been watching her since the fight began.

The Southern Prince continued following her until she was only a few yards away from the castle doors, then he phased out using his speed and went inside swiftly, without drawing her notice.

When Mizuna came through the doors, her body decided that, discipline be damned, she was out of energy and it wasn't going to cooperate anymore. And so, she passed out, straight into the prince's arms without really registering his presence at all.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Leiko: Okie! That chapter was largely about Kashaku, because it is also dedicated to her! Because she never once stopped harassing me to finish this, so yay her!

:Leiko looks nervously at readers:

Leiko: Oh… and uh… can I… I don't know… like… not die?

Readers: Doubtful.

Leiko: RYUU-CHAN! SAVE ME!

:Ryuu ignores her and continues discussing politics with Mizuna:

Kin: Quick Leiko, in here!

:Kin opens random door and Leiko runs in before Kin slams it shut and locks it:

Kin: THAT'S FOR PUTTING THAT STUPID ASS SEAL ON THE FREAKING DOOR!

:"Leiko is now locked in a closet, but she doesn't even have a totally sexy demon to share it with:

Leiko: You suck… you could've at least locked someone hot in here with me…

:Kashaku opens door and shoves the real Renkotsu into the closet with her:

Kashaku: There ya go!

Leiko: Cool, thanks!

Rin: Rin thinks that everyone should review the nice lady's story!

Readers: AW! SHE'S SO CUTE!


End file.
